USA TODAY 9/23/13 By Michael Shank Focus on African security missing development needs. Last month, at the beginning of a trip to Somalia, my twitter feed started buzzing with breaking news about explosions in Mogadishu. A local rebel group, al-Shabab, claimed credit. Their tactic was fairly unsophisticated: break the Ramadan […]
USA TODAY 07/23/13 By Michael Shank and Kate Gould Congress should join the 70% of Americans who oppose arming Syrian rebels, an act that will come back to haunt us. The Senate and House Intelligence committees’ about-face decision this week to arm the rebels in Syria is dangerous and disconcerting. […]
USA TODAY 05/24/13 By Michael Shank Armed drones, at first blush, are a boon to America’s military toolkit, as President Obama reinforced in his counterterrorism speech on Thursday. Drones, in the short run at least, could mean fewer U.S. troops deployed and fewer American lives lost. Unsurprisingly, the appeal is […]