War

Military-First is the Wrong Approach Toward Africa

POLITIX 08/07/14 By Michael Shank As President Barack Obama hosts the Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington D.C. this week, it’s important for the president to put on the front-burner policies that promote peace on the continent. Instead of prioritizing counter-terrorism, resource extractive or aid-only agendas – which is what has […]

Ebola Research Flows Away From Poor: Other Views

USA TODAY 08/06/14 Steven Hoffman and Julia Belluz, Vox.com: “Ebola will continue to move through Africa — this time, and again in the future — not only because of the viral reservoirs and broken health systems specific to the continent. There are much larger issues at play here. … Most […]

Violence or Vaccines: Which Path for US in Africa?

REUTERS 08/06/14 By Michael Shank Africa is the new frontier for the U.S. Defense Department. The Pentagon has applied counterterrorism tactics throughout the Middle East and, to a lesser extent, Central and South Asia. Now it is monitoring the African continent for counterterrorism initiatives. It staged more than 546 military […]

Gaza Memo to Congress: Talk to Hamas

HUFFINGTON POST 07/31/14 By Michael Shank This week, former United States Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) reached out to me regarding a Dear Colleague letter that he wanted to circulate to his former colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Kucinich, like many of us deeply frustrated […]

Cleaning Up Big Oil in Nigeria

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 07/31/14 By Michael Shank and Kate Edelen Oil thefts are growing in Nigeria and threaten stability in the region. An SEC rule could help stem oil-related violence in the Niger Delta. As America’s news coverage of Nigeria continues to focus on the plight of kidnapped […]

America Needs a ‘Reset’ in Policy Toward Somalia

POLITIX 07/01/14 By Michael Shank At next month’s Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington D.C., it’ll be important for President Barack Obama to refrain from prioritizing counter-terrorism, resource extractive or aid-only agendas – which is what has dominated White House policies in the past – and pursue, instead, a more just […]

How to Stop Libya Becoming Another Iraq

CNN 06/26/14 By Michael Shank and Najla Elmangoush Editor’s note: Najla Elmangoush is the dean of Centre of Gender Studies at the Libya Institute for Advanced Studies in Tripoli. Michael Shank is the associate director for legislative affairs at the Friends Committee on National Legislation and adjunct faculty at George […]

U.S. Military Interventionism Has Harmed Iraq Dearly

POLITIX 06/26/14 By Michael Shank Iraq continues to pose a conundrum for the international community. Many in the West feel that Iraq is perpetually ungovernable and that its quagmire finds root cause in something inherent to Iraqi culture or sectarianism. What the West fails to realize is that military interventionism […]

How to Avoid the Same Old Mistakes in Iraq

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 06/18/14 By Michael Shank and Yemi Melka Forget military strikes. The U.S. should address sectarian tension by promoting regional cooperation. The best solution to the Middle East conflict is a policy based in regional teamwork. As fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the […]

Your Neighborhood Is About to Look a Little More Like Afghanistan

POLICYMIC 06/10/14 By Tom McKay The news: As the United States concludes its messy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military is finding itself left with vast armories of powerful military hardware designed for the streets of Baghdad and Kabul. In order to avoid sending billions of dollars of equipment […]