FINANCIAL TIMES 05/16/08 By Michael Shank Sir, Heavy on protestation, light on substance, Robert Kagan’s call for a concert of democratic countries begs a hypothetical test run (“The case for a league of democracies”, May 14). Test three of the globe’s burning blisters – genocide, climate change and human rights […]
International Analysis
US Policy in Iraq: A Plague on Both Houses
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE OPERATIONS Vol 3, No. 6 May-June 08 By Michael Shank For all of Washington’s white papers on the war in Iraq, testimonies by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and wonkish retching over the war’s latest development – the recent routing of Iraq Prime Minister Nouri […]
Poppy, Poverty and the Taliban: An Interview with Afghanistan Ambassador to the US, Said Tayeb Jawad
Journal of International Peace Operations Volume 3, Number 6, May-June 2008 Conducted by Michael Shank Michael Shank interviewed Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the US on March 6, 2008, regarding Afghanistan’s poppy and poverty problems, relations with Pakistan, U.S. presidential candidates’ policies vis-a-vis Afghanistan, Paddy Ashdown, and talks with the Taliban. JIPO: […]
Poppy Crop Destruction Drives Farmers Towards Taliban
FINANCIAL TIMES 04/12/08 By Michael Shank Sir, With reference to your report, “US seeks Afghan heroin action” (April 5/6): the American proclivity for short-term, high-visibility gains precludes, yet again, sound strategy. Aerial spraying does not constitute an effective poppy eradication programme. Critically, this counter-narcotics strategy ignores the demand side. If […]
U.N. Security Council Must Act Preemptively – on Climate Change
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR 03/24/08 By Michael Shank and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) The United Nations tackled the task of troubleshooting climate change last month. Between holding special General Assembly meetings at headquarters in New York, bringing 100 environmental ministers to Monaco in the largest meeting of ministers since Bali, and […]
Afghan Domestic Opinion Neglected in Ashdown Plan
FINANCIAL TIMES 02/15/08 By Michael Shank Sir, Paddy Ashdown still does not get it. His three-pronged policy prescription for Afghanistan (“A strategy to save Afghanistan”, February 13), while meritorious on many levels, nowhere implies consultation with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai. This approach, unfortunately, is consistent with years of interventionist neglect […]
Accountability in Indonesia
Washington Post 02/02/2008 By Michael Shank The death of Indonesia’s former president Suharto reminds us of the end of a bloody era, but a more pernicious foreign policy practice persists: that of American alliances with military dictatorships [“Indonesia’s Despotic ‘Father of Development,’ ” news story, Jan. 28]. That Mr. Suharto […]
Chomsky on the Rise of the South: An Interview with Noam Chomsky
Foreign Policy in Focus 01/30/2008 Conducted by Michael Shank Noam Chomsky is a noted linguist, author, and foreign policy expert. On January 15, Michael Shank interviewed him on the latest developments in U.S. policy toward regional challenges to U.S. power. In the second part of this two-part interview, Chomsky also […]
False Sense of Security in Iraq
Foreign Policy in Focus 01/29/2008 By Michael Shank The Pentagon ushered in the New Year with seemingly welcome news: Iraq’s security is improving. Attacks across the country fell 62 percent and, according to aid organization Iraqi Red Crescent, 20,000 Iraqi refugees returned home from Syria in December alone. The U.S. […]
Chomsky on World Ownership: An Interview with Noam Chomsky
Foreign Policy in Focus 01/23/2008 Conducted by Michael Shank Noam Chomsky is a noted linguist, author, and foreign policy expert. On January 15, Michael Shank interviewed him on the latest developments in U.S. policy toward Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan. In the first part of this two-part interview, Chomsky also discussed […]