Huffington Post 04/24/2012 By Michael Shank Today (April 24), the Institute for Economics and Peace released the second annual U.S. Peace Index, which assesses America’s peacefulness at the state and city levels and analyzes the costs associated with violence and the socio-economic measures associated with peace. So just how peaceful […]
Huffington Post 04/02/2012 By Michael Shank and Former US Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) Three months in and 2012 is setting trans-Atlantic records for harsher-than-normal austerity measures and disillusioned voters. East of the Atlantic, Greece struggles to regain footing while Portugal, Italy and Spain teeter on the brink. West of it, […]
Huffington Post 03/29/2012 By Michael Shank Lest we think the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida has little legal relevance for our Washington metro area, think again. All eyes should be on the state of Maryland. The U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision recently regarding concealed-carry permits means that Maryland […]
Huffington Post 03/20/2012 By Michael Shank On Syria, there is a back-story from which the US should learn, lest it be repeated again. For years, long before the killing by President Bashar al-Assad’s government began, the US preferred a policy with Damascus of disengagement. It is unclear why the White […]
Huffington Post 03/13/2012 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) Burning Korans and urinating on dead bodies is, without question, bad diplomacy in Afghanistan, but by themselves these latest episodes did nothing to make us reconsider our timetable for leaving. We had plenty of good reasons already to […]
Huffington Post 03/12/2012 By Michael Shank Evil is back. Mitt Romney, in his op-ed last week on Iran, resurrected President George W. Bush-era evil finger pointing towards Tehran. What a surprise. And what fertile Congressional ground in which to lay this “evil” egg given Congress’s consistent support — save for […]
Huffington Post 03/02/2012 Al Jazeera 03/08/2012 By Michael Shank With Robert Zoellick stepping down from the World Bank helm, there is no better time for a development economist with solid on-the-ground and substantial international experience — like Dr. Jeffrey Sachs — to take his place. There are three clear reasons […]
Huffington Post 02/24/2012 By Michael Shank and Thorben Albrecht As Germany continues to rise as lead survivor — and decision-maker — in the European Union’s economic mire, the U.S. would do well to take a lesson from the country’s economic model, particularly in manufacturing. Losing 4 million jobs over the […]
Huffington Post 01/31/2012 By Michael Shank It is ironic that Amish and Mennonites — arguably some of the least politically active Christian sects in America — settled in some of the most politically important regions of the country, in states that are critical for their primary caucus value or swing […]
Politico 01/14/2012 Huffington Post 02/02/2012 By Michael Shank With climate change a non-starter in Congress and among Republican presidential candidates, it is becoming clear that something more than mere nation-state commitments will be needed to counter climate change and reduce global warming. With nations reluctant to recommit to another climate […]