US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 04/29/14 By Michael Shank and Daniel L. Davis Before allowing pride to further cloud sound judgment in global engagement, it is critical for America to bring back into balance an appropriate recognition of our country’s strengths – and a sober recognition of its weaknesses – […]
Tag: nato
Caustic Encounters: Western Demands on Putin Escalate Crimea Crisis
CDN 03/22/14 By Michael Shank WASHINGTON, March 22, 2014 — Returning home last week from Poland and Germany, as part of a United States and European Union transatlantic policymaker conversation on the crisis in Ukraine, Crimea and Russia, as well as other salient U.S.-E.U. issues like trade, climate change and […]
Why the White House Won’t Win the Afghanistan War
WASHINGTON TIMES 11/07/13 By Michael Shank WASHINGTON, November 7, 2013 — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry desperately needs a win on the Afghanistan war. Unfortunately, however, it appears increasingly unlikely he will get one. Despite repeated visits and discussions, Kerry has so far failed to secure a clean Bilateral […]
Why You Should Care About Tajikistan’s Election
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 10/23/13 By Michael Shank and Kimairis Toogood On November 6, 2013, the post-Soviet republic of Tajikistan is slated for another round of presidential elections and Washington would be wise to take note. The country’s current trajectory is deleterious for democracy and has serious implications for […]
For Reconstruction, Put Libyans to Work
ROLL CALL 11/01/11 By Michael Shank and J.J. Messner With the excitement about Moammar Gadhafi’s downfall beginning to fade, Libya’s new management has begun governing and reconstructing the war-torn nation. Plenty of attention is being paid to the governance angle: Is the National Transitional Council a legitimate, representative body? When […]
Afghan Domestic Opinion Neglected in Ashdown Plan
FINANCIAL TIMES 02/15/08 By Michael Shank Sir, Paddy Ashdown still does not get it. His three-pronged policy prescription for Afghanistan (“A strategy to save Afghanistan”, February 13), while meritorious on many levels, nowhere implies consultation with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai. This approach, unfortunately, is consistent with years of interventionist neglect […]
Reducing Taliban Recruitment by Development
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE OPERATIONS Vol. 3, No. 1, July-Aug 07 By Michael Shank United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ recent commentary that “things are slowly, cautiously headed in the right direction” in Afghanistan convinced very few. General Dan McNeill, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, seconded the […]