United Nations

U.S. Credibility Around the World Damaged by Afghanistan War

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 12/16/13 By Michael Shank, Daniel L. Davis, and Shukria Dellawar As the December 31st deadline for the U.S.-Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement gets pushed back, given unresolved disagreements over the post-2014 U.S. presence, it is clear that American clout in Kabul is not what it once […]

A New Look at Climate Change

REUTERS 12/09/13 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Michael Honda The annual United Nations climate change talks, which concluded last month in Warsaw, unfortunately found little common ground on carbon. The talks broke down over the world’s richest nations’ inability to agree with the poorest on how to address the […]

Reading Karzai’s Mind

RADIO FREE EUROPE 11/27/13 By Frud Bezhan A contentious security deal between Afghanistan and the United States looked all but signed. The Loya Jirga, a key national gathering of Afghan elders, had given its unanimous backing. All that was left was for both parliament and Afghan President Hamid Karzai to […]

U.S. Must Act Now Over Central African Republic

CNN 11/22/13 By Michael Shank and Madeline Rose Editor’s note: Michael Shank is director of foreign policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Madeline Rose is legislative associate for foreign policy at FCNL. The views expressed are their own. Despite dire warnings of anarchy, mass violence, and potential genocide, […]

UN Climate Change Negotiations in Poland This Week

WASHINGTON TIMES 11/18/13 By Michael Shank and Matt Lichtash WASHINGTON, November 18, 2013 – With the United Nations meeting this week in Warsaw, Poland, for its annual conversation on climate change, one wonders if the international community can come together quickly enough to respond to this month’s warnings from the […]

Report: Food Insecurity Rising as Crop Production Falls

WASHINGTON TIMES 11/03/13 By Michael Shank WASHINGTON, November 3, 2013 — America’s food security is at immediate risk, according to a report leaked this month by the New York Times. Americans should expect crop production to fall by as much as 2 percent each decade for the rest of the […]

Climate Crisis and the Will to Act

THE HILL 10/22/13 By Michael Shank and US Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) In the past month, the U.S. has faced two grave threats, one domestic and one international. Both pose serious consequences to the United States and the world at large, and no one knows how either will end. The […]

Next Steps in Syria

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 10/10/13 By Michael Shank and Lawrence Wilkerson As inspectors begin destroying Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, the days and weeks ahead are absolutely critical. While we laud the progress initially instigated by talks between the U.S. and Russia, we feel strongly that our diplomatic efforts going […]

Americans Have Had Enough Conflict

CNN 09/27/13 By Michael Shank, Matt Hoh and Danny L. Davis Editor’s note: Matthew Hoh served with the U.S. Marines in Iraq and on State Department teams in Afghanistan and Iraq and is a Senior Fellow with the Center for International Policy. Michael Shank is director of foreign policy at […]

Obama Prioritizes Palestinian-Israeli Peace Process in UN Pitch

HUFFINGTON POST 09/24/13 By Michael Shank Watching President Barack Obama’s speech to heads of state at the UN General Assembly summit this week in New York — specifically his pointed prioritization of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process — I was reminded of a column I penned with U.S. Congressman Gregory Meeks […]