BUZZFEED 05/18/12 By Michael Hastings An amendment that would legalize the use of propaganda on American audiences is being inserted into the latest defense authorization bill, BuzzFeed has learned. The amendment would “strike the current ban on domestic dissemination” of propaganda material produced by the State Department and the Pentagon, […]
NEW PUBLIC HEALTH 05/16/12 By Fran Kritz The Institute for Economics and Peace recently released the second annual United States Peace Index, which provides an assessment of U.S. peacefulness at the state and city levels. The index authors also offer an analysis of the costs associated with violence and the […]
WASHINGTON TIMES 05/16/12 By Michael Shank I met with former Taliban government minister Moulavi Arsala Rahmani when I traveled to Afghanistan in 2009 in an unofficial capacity while serving as senior policy adviser for Rep. Michael Honda, California Democrat. What a loss Rahmani’s death is for the peace process (“Gunman […]
SHREVEPORT TIMES 04/26/12 By Kris Wartelle The Institute for Economics and Peace released its annual peace index Tuesday, and Louisiana makes the bottom of the list again. This is the second year the nonpartisan group has released the assessment, but according to IEP Vice President Michael Shank, the study tracked […]
THE HILL 02/17/12 By Michael Shank and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) As the Republican candidates head to Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen’s state of Tennessee next month for the Super Tuesday primaries, one topic seems to have escaped their attention entirely: a credible economic cure for what ails the states in […]
WASHINGTON TIMES 02/17/12 By Michael Shank By lifting the gun purchase limit, the state of Virginia can expect to see a lifting of its violence limits as well (“Va. Senate votes to repeal one-gun-a-month law,” Web, Feb. 6). Virginia already has one of the highest rates of availability of small […]
WASHINGTON POST 01/24/12 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 […]
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR 12/19/11 By Michael Shank What makes for a peaceful society? Hot spots from Congo to the Middle East would benefit from such knowledge. But so would the United States, which, at home, isn’t always so harmonious and abroad, is still at war in Afghanistan. The Institute for […]
THE GUARDIAN 08/06/11 By Michael Shank We have the evidence: the hardpressed US taxpayer is being fleeced by profiteering contractors and corrupt military personnel This past week, as US Congress quacked its way through the debt-ceiling quagmire, a seemingly non-germane offshore issue surfaced vis-a-vis Iraq. The connection between the two […]
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR 07/11/11 By Michael Shank Looking to save the world trillions of dollars? How about investing in peace and nonviolence? Australia’s Institute for Economics and Peace recently released its 2011 Global Peace Index, citing a veritable “who’s who” of peaceful countries. It counted up the savings had the […]