THE GUARDIAN 07/02/11 By Michael Shank With Republicans and Democrats alike split, confusion reigns over two crucial issues: war powers and R2P. It’s time for clarity Last week, as the US Senate picked up the Libya debate where the House of Representatives left off, it was apparent that Libya has […]
THE HILL 05/17/11 By Michael Shank America has yet to figure out whether Turkey is friend or foe. With conflicts in Libya and Afghanistan, and tsunamis in Japan and Indonesia, Turkey’s generous military and aid contribution pleases Washington. With Armenia, Israel and Iran, however, Turkey spurns Washington for refusing the […]
THE NATION 04/27/11 By Michael Shank This article appeared in the May 16, 2011 edition of The Nation. As the world witnesses revolution erupting throughout North Africa and the Middle East and watches autocrats give way to people power, there is increasing fascination in the West with the nonviolent nature […]
THE GUARDIAN 05/15/11 By Michael Shank Turkey’s economic strength and diplomatic stature are growing fast. The US needs to nurture closer ties. America has yet to figure out whether Turkey is friend or foe. With conflicts in Libya and Afghanistan, and tsunamis in Japan and Indonesia, Turkey’s generous military and […]
THE NATION 01/03/11 By Greg Kaufmann The War in Afghanistan is the longest in US history [1], at 110 months, and the most expensive, at $1 million per soldier and over $100 billion annually. There have been over 2,200 [2] US and coalition casualties, and tens of thousands of Afghan […]
WASHINGTON TIMES 03/26/10 By Michael Shank Traveling recently in a congressional staff delegation to Venezuela, I found my experience was not too dissimilar from my previous experiences in Syria and Iran. This is not to say that I am aggregating these three states into some kind of axis-of-evil or rogue […]
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE 12/17/09 By Michael Shank I was not in America feasting on pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. I was in Afghanistan during the Muslim holiday of Eid, also a day to give thanks. Landing in Kabul , I wondered what there was to be thankful for. Poverty plagued the […]
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS 12/12/2009 By Michael Shank Wrapping up a whirlwind tour in Afghanistan, I am overwhelmed with what I found and how far afield it is from Washington’s thinking. Many congressional delegations come to Kabul but rarely experience on-the-ground realities. The way I could guarantee a raw look […]
WASHINGTON TIMES 12/09/09 By Michael Shank Last month I went to Afghanistan, not with a congressional delegation but on my own. My boss, Rep. Michael M. Honda, California Democrat, is chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ Afghanistan Task Force and has a keen interest in rethinking U.S. strategy there. With […]
THE NATION 12/05/09 By Michael Shank Returning to Washington this week, after a whirlwind tour in Afghanistan, I am dizzy, not from delight but from the overwhelming disconnect between rhetoric stateside and reality Asia-side. Thankfully, my boss, Congressman Michael Honda, chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s Afghanistan Taskforce, is trying […]