International Analysis

Doubling Down on Drone Mistakes

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 06/29/17 By Michael Shank America’s trigger-happy president, Donald Trump, is increasingly getting the United States into trouble with dramatic ramp-ups of military intervention. The latest, Russia’s threat to retaliate in response to the Defense Department’s downing of a Syrian jet and Trump’s vague threatening over […]

Trump’s Tomahawk Missiles Won’t Help Somalia Find Peace

NEWSWEEK 06/16/17 By Michael Shank Blowback is already happening in response to President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. This week’s car bombing and siege at a restaurant in Mogadishu, Somalia, which killed 31 people and resulted in dozens of hostages, is an apparent reaction to Trump’s airstrikes over the weekend, which […]

Bailing On the Paris Climate Deal Would Be a Huge Security Risk

TIME MAGAZINE 06/01/17 By Michael Shank and U.S. Congressman Raul Grijalva U.S. Representative Grijalva (D-AZ) is a ranking member on the House Natural Resources Committee. Shank is an adjunct assistant professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs. The Trump Administration is poised to isolate itself from reality once […]

Don’t Let Yemen Turn Into Syria

USA TODAY 03/17/17 By Michael Shank Diplomacy and foreign aid are best ways to end terrorist groups. Why is Trump slashing them? President Trump, who promised as a candidate to “bomb the hell out of ISIS,” authorized a military raid in Yemen during his first couple of weeks in office […]

Yemen Needs Us Now

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 03/06/17 By Michael Shank Yemen is now a White House talking point. It was in President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress last week and there’s speculation of increased American military involvement. While most Americans aren’t tracking the complexities of the civil […]

Feckless on Foreign Policy

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 01/23/17 By Michael Shank The vote for Trump’s defense secretary shows how the left rolls over on military issues. The Senate Democrats’ sound and fury over President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks and his political agenda is apparently signifying nothing – at least on defense policy. […]

Expect Resource Wars With Exxon CEO At State Helm

HUFFINGTON POST 12/12/16 By Michael Shank Now that President-elect Donald Trump is positioning ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as head of the U.S. State Department and America’s top diplomat, expect U.S. foreign policy to adopt a more overt and explicit commitment to resource-based warfare. There is no question that Tillerson will […]

There Is A Major Climate Issue Hiding In Your Closet: Fast Fashion

FAST COMPANY 11/11/16 By Michael Shank and Maxine Bedat Disposable clothes, often made from oil, in factories powered by coal, and shipped around the world, mean that the apparel industry contributes 10% of global emissions. This month as world leaders meet in Morocco to discuss implementation of the Paris climate […]

Why Obama Should Pardon Snowden

USA TODAY 09/14/16 By Michael Shank The real threat to national security is our own egregious activities in war zones. The American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and others are launching a campaign this week to get President Obama to pardon Edward Snowden for his 2013 whistle-blowing […]