School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution

Trayvon Martin's Lesson for Maryland: Appeal Gun Law Ruling by Federal Judge

Michael Shank | Posted 05.29.2012

Read More: National Peace Academy, Governor O'Malley, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Institute for Economics and Peace, Maryland, Trayvon Martin, US Peace Index, Crime, US Court of Appeals, Benson Everett Legg, US District Judge, Michael Shank, Incarceration, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Guns, Gun Violence, Concealed Carry, Crime News
Michael Shank

Lest we think the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida has little legal relevance for our Washington metro area, think again. All eyes should be on the state of Maryland.

Read Post

Bringing Florida to Justice, Not Just George Zimmerman

Michael Shank | Posted 05.25.2012

Read More: Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Florida, Institute for Economics and Peace, Louisiana, Violent Crime, Trayvon Martin, Inequality, US Peace Index, George Zimmerman, Nevada, Michael Shank, Incarceration, Racism, Policing, Homicide, George Mason University, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Tennessee, Crime News
Michael Shank

A bigger question that must also be asked is "Who is Florida?" We could ask a question about the direction America is headed on race and violence but let's stick to Florida for a moment.

Read Post

Lack of US-Syria Diplomacy Leads to Dangerous Isolation

Michael Shank | Posted 05.20.2012

Read More: National Peace Academy, Syria, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Ambassador Scobey, Ambassador Satterfield, Iraq, Sheikh Hassoun, Michael Shank, Damascus, Iran, President Bashar Al-Assad, Condoleezza Rice, George Mason University, Diplomacy, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, President George W. Bush, World News
Michael Shank

On Syria, there is a back-story from which the US should learn, lest it be repeated again. For years, long before the killing by President Bashar al-Assad's government began, the US preferred a policy with Damascus of disengagement. It is unclear why the White House pursued this.

Read Post

Why the World Bank Needs Jeff Sachs at the Helm

Michael Shank | Posted 05.02.2012

Read More: Robert Zoellick, United Nations, World Bank, Larry Summers, Asia, Climate Change, Michael Shank, Ban Ki-Moon, George Mason University, Kathmandu, Timothy Geithner, Earth Institute, Portugal, Greece, Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, National Peace Academy, Italy, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Jeffrey Sachs, Institute for Economics and Peace, Africa, Latin America, Income Inequality, European Union, Jeff Sachs, The End of Poverty, Columbia University, Millennium Development Goals, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Hillary Clinton, Development, Poverty, Spain, Kenya, Jeffrey Sachs World Bank, World News
Michael Shank

Given the World Bank's focus on poverty, economics and climate, and given Sachs' wealth of experience in all three, there is no better candidate.

Read Post

Memo to Mississippi: State's Violence, Poverty and Education Levels Key to Saving Lives, Not Initiative 26

Michael Shank | Posted 01.07.2012

Read More: Michael Shank, US Peace Index, Iniatitive 26, Institute for Economics and Peace, Abortion, Pro-Life, Mississippi, National Peace Academy, George Mason University, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, The Hague, Women News
Michael Shank

If the State of Mississippi is ultimately trying to save lives with Initiative 26 and reduce its high teenage pregnancy rate -- one of the highest in America -- it should focus on prevention instead.

Read Post

Terror Threat? Climate Change Shrinking Plants and Animals Part of Bigger Global Security Threat

Michael Shank | Posted 12.19.2011

Read More: National Peace Academy, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, House Foreign Affairs Committee, United Nations, Richard Branson, Pacific Islands, Maldives, Global Warming, China, Britain, Climate Change, France, p5, Michael Shank, Security Council, Ban Ki-Moon, Russia, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Christian Science Monitor, Palau, The Hague, Green News
Michael Shank

This week's announcement that climate change is shrinking plant and animal species and is likely to have a negative impact on human nutrition in the f...

Read Post

U.S. Defense Secretary Panetta's Refusal to Cut Pentagon Spending Puts America at Greater Risk

Michael Shank | Posted 12.13.2011

Read More: National Peace Academy, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, US Defense Secretary, Michael Shank, Pentagon, George Washington, Leon Panetta, Paul Collier, Secretary of Defense, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Congress, Defense Spending, Super Committee, The Hague, Politics News
Michael Shank

Refusal by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Members of Congress, and now the Super Committee, to cut US defense spending puts our country on a dange...

Read Post

Why 'Occupy Wall Street' Protests? America's High Rates of Poverty & Income Inequality

Michael Shank | Posted 12.11.2011

Read More: National Peace Academy, Richard Wilkinson, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Institute for Economics and Peace, President Obama, Income Inequality, Congressional Black Caucus, Spirit Level, Democrats, Poverty Rates, Michael Shank, Unemployment, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Economist, Kate Pickett, George Mason University, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Global Peace Index, Republicans, Vision of Humanity, US Peace Index, Occupy Wall Street, Warren Buffett, Politics News
Michael Shank

Reduce income inequality and you reduce the rates of every kind of social malaise that are draining our federal, state and local budgets and services. Eradicate both and you have a certain moneymaker for America.

Read Post

To Super Committee: Pentagon Corruption in the Millions, Time to Cut Defense Contracting

Michael Shank | Posted 12.05.2011

Read More: National Peace Academy, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Dyncorp, Debt Reduction, Iraq, Super Committee, Sandi Group, Michael Shank, Wartime Contracting Commission, Brown University, Iraq War, US Marine Corps, George Mason University, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, US Army, Sigir, Government Accountability Office, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Anham, Politics News
Michael Shank

With $3.7 trillion already spent by the US on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is painfully apparent that this money is not being spent wisely; in some cases, it is simply being stolen.

Read Post

Republican Presidential Candidates' Anti-EPA Extremism & Rep Darrell Issa's Effort to Enable Car Emissions

Michael Shank | Posted 12.03.2011

Read More: National Peace Academy, Tea Party Movement, House of Representatives, Climategate, Virginia Tea Party, Global Partnership for Teh Prevention of Armed Conflict, Michelle Bachman, Texas Tea Party, Newt Gingrich, Republican Presidential Candidates, Climate Change, Epa, Michael Shank, Rep Darrell Issa, George Mason University, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Rick Perry, Republican Party, Environmental Protection Agency, The Hague, Green News
Michael Shank

Since "climategate" first broke the news two years ago, American efforts to enact effective climate policy at the federal level have been significantly undermined by a confluence of events.

Read Post

On 10th Anniversary of Afghan War, Time to Exit Militarized US Foreign Policy

Michael Shank | Posted 11.28.2011

Read More: National Peace Academy, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Pentagon, Cia, Leon Panetta, Somalia, Pakistan, David Petraeus, Counter-Terrorism, Yemen, Iraq, Afghan Local Police, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Rand Corporation, Afghanistan War, Michael Shank, Wartime Contracting Commission, Brown University, Secretary of Defense, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Libya, Afghanistan, The Hague, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Politics News
Michael Shank

October 7 marks the tenth anniversary of the US war in Afghanistan. After expending $4 trillion and thousands of lives, the US needs an exit from the depressing impasse of its militarized foreign policy.

Read Post

Islamophobia Network Targets Top Performing American Schools

Michael Shank | Posted 11.26.2011

Read More: James Baker III, National Peace Academy, Islam, Turkey, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Dalai Lama, Islamophobia, John Esposito, Fethullah Gulen, US State Department, Madeleine Albright, Center for American Progress, Michael Shank, Muslim, Nato, Khalil Gibran, Eastern Mennonite University, Red Scare, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Newsweek, Fear Inc, Religion News
Michael Shank

While I recognize that there are legitimate concerns regarding the use of public funds for these charter schools... it seems that at the heart of this is an undercurrent of phobia about Islamic teaching in America.

Read Post

How the Arab Spring Sprung From a Nonviolent Source

Michael Shank | Posted 11.22.2011

Read More: National Peace Academy, Egypt, Khudai Khidmatgar, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Asfandyar Wali Khan, Dalai Lama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Clausewitz, Arsalan Iftikhar, Islamic Pacificism, Pakistan, Gene Sharp, King Abdullah, Nonviolent Protest, Mahatma Gandhi, Koran, North Africa, Michael Shank, Representative Peter King, Arab Spring, Martin Luther King Jr, Awami National Party, Middle East, Pashtun, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Sheik Jawdat Said, Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, World News
Michael Shank

The propensity in the U.S. to conflate Islam with violence precludes the possibility of nonviolent Muslim protest motivated by an internal incentive, be it secular or religious. However, the concept of nonviolence is not foreign or new to Muslims.

Read Post

On 9/21/11 (UN Day of Peace): How Peaceful Is the World?

Michael Shank | Posted 11.21.2011

Read More: National Peace Academy, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Terrorism Index, Institute for Economics and Peace, Lockheed Martin, Project on Government Oversight, US Peace Index, Failed States Index, Michael Shank, Federal Contractor Misconduct Database, George Mason University, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Global Peace Index, Economnist Intelligence Unit, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Foreign Policy, International Day of Peace, World News
Michael Shank

That the economics of peace have had such a hard time prevailing in policy conversations is, in part, because the dominant language, lobbies, and learning environments are all geared toward the mechanics of war.

Read Post