Michael A. Cohen: All Publications, Events and Press

End the GOP's Filibuster Folly

Erin Drankoski — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:49:00 -0500

A year ago, Barack Obama was elected to bring change to America. But his efforts to transform Washington are being stymied by one of the capital's oldest of political traditions: the Senate filibuster. Ten months into Obama's presidency, Democrats have passed just one major piece of legislation, February's stimulus package.

Afghanistan Eight Years On

Kirsten Gilbert — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:30:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/26/2009 - 2:00pm

On October 26, Michael Cohen, a Senior Research Fellow of the New America Foundation examined U.S. strategic interests in Afghanistan with experts Christine Fair, Alexander Thier, and Jonathan Landay.

Now Who Loves America More? It's Not the GOP

Erin Drankoski — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:26:00 -0400

Twenty-five years ago, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick famously lambasted Democrats as "blame America firsters" and a party plagued by "self-criticism and self-denigration" of America. It was a speech at pace with an emerging political stereotype that suggested Democrats weren't quite patriotic enough and didn't love their country as much as Republicans did. This image of Democratic weakness and self-doubt became one of the most effective attack lines for Republicans -- and Democrats' greatest political liability.

McChrystal's Full-Court Press on Afghanistan Is Improper

Erin Drankoski — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:57:00 -0400

Civilian control of the armed forces is one of the most sacrosanct tenets of American democracy. It assures us that military decision-making will be subordinate to the larger strategic perspective of our nation's elected -- and ultimately accountable -- leaders.

Use Of Private Security Grows In Iraq, Afghanistan | NPR

Cecille Isidro — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:31:00 -0400

"Security is not just Blackwater," says Michael Cohen, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation who has studied the use of contractors. ...

Gates Signals Troop Increase Likely in Afghanistan | The Washington Independent

Cecille Isidro — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:06:00 -0400

A prominent critic, Michael Cohen, a defense analyst at the New America Foundation, has been blogging for months a feature called “Afghanistan Mission Creep ... and more »

Contractors Outnumber U.S. Troops In Afghanistan | NPR

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:20:00 -0400

... have the troops to do these tasks on their own," says Michael Cohen, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation who has studied the issue. ... and more »

Obama Faces Rising Anxiety on Afghanistan | The Washington Independent

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:23:00 -0400

... “More and more people are questioning the underlying assumptions of the whole thing,” observed Michael Cohen, a New York-based scholar with the New America Foundation who began running a feature on a progressive foreign-policy blog, Democracy Arsenal, called Afghanistan Mission Creep Watch. ...

The Politics of Sacrifice

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:05:00 -0400

Today, nearly 50 million Americans lack health care coverage, the average American is often one serious illness away from financial ruin and every year nearly 20,000 Americans die because they don't have health insurance.

Yet last week, when President Barack Obama gave a nationally televised news conference to explain his health care policies, he focused on two narrow questions that are defining the health care debate in Washington: "What's in this for me?" and "How does my family stand to benefit from health insurance reform?"

Book Event: The Snakehead

Stephanie Gunter — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:25:00 -0400

A New America Event
08/05/2009 - 12:15pm

Patrick Radden Keefe, a Fellow at The Century Foundation, discussed his new book, The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream. The book tells how "Sister Ping," the entrepreneurial human smuggler based in New York's Chinatown, built a global criminal network. The Snakehead also relates the events that led to Sister Ping's downfall, when the "Golden Venture," the ship on which some three hundred undocumented Chinese immigrants had made a four-month journey in a cramped, windowless hold, ran

The Power Problem

Cecille Isidro — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:12:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/24/2009 - 12:15pm

On July 24, Christopher Preble discussed his new book The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free. Dr. Preble was joined by New America's Michael Cohen, Senior Research Fellow and co-director of the Privatization of Foreign Policy Initiative, and Michael Lind, Senior Fellow and Policy Director of the Economic Growth Program, as well as Gordon Adams, a Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center, in discussing whether and how the U.S. should scale back its global military commitments.

The Powell Doctrine's Enduring Relevance

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:07:00 -0400

Once upon a time, there was a grand and influential foreign policy doctrine. It was based on some traditional notions about U.S. statecraft that placed severe constraints on when America went to war. It asserted that when the United States used military force, it must do so in overwhelming fashion and only in the service of vital national interests. For any military action, it counseled the dispassionate weighing of costs and benefits, recommended that policymakers have clear, realistic and achievable political objectives, and called for the

Afghanistan: Casualties and Objectives | KCRW - Santa Monica

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:46:00 -0400

July is not over, but it's already the deadliest month for US troops in Afghanistan since the war began eight years ago. The US has begun a major offensive against the Taliban, but two out of three allied casualties are caused not by direct combat but improvised explosive devises, crude roadside bombs. Defense Secretary Gates says there must be "progress" before next summer or the war will lose the support of the American people. How will "progress" be measured? What are the US objectives in what's now being called "Barack Obama's War?"

Where the Real Fight Is

Cecille Isidro — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:31:00 -0400

The conventional wisdom in Washington -- and the core of U.S. President Barack Obama's "Af-Pak" policy, which he announced in March -- is that Afghanistan is now the central front in the conflict formerly known as the war on terror. Pakistan is essential too, of course, and indeed, the thinking goes, you can't have a successful Afghanistan policy without a successful Pakistan policy. The problem with this conventional wisdom is that it gets the situation entirely backward: The real fight is in Pakistan, not Afghanistan,

Momentum Key for Health Care Bill

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:32:00 -0400

Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, the one criticism heard perhaps more than any other from Republicans was about the cult of veneration that had developed around Barack Obama. He was the “second coming,” the Democrats’ “messiah,” a preening “celebrity,” the political ads joked. But the GOP might have been on to something. For Democrats and their ambitious domestic agenda, it’s all about Obama.

Obama in Egypt: A Vision in Democracy Promotion

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:11:00 -0400

President Barack Obama's historic address to the Muslim world in Cairo tomorrow offers a prime opportunity to outline a new U.S. vision for democracy and human rights in the region. To accomplish this goal, Obama must firmly reject the notion that safeguarding America's strategic interests in the Middle East somehow runs counter to the goal of advancing political reform. Instead he must craft a balanced message that recognizes that reform is synonymous with U.S. interests in the region.

The Right Is on the Wrong Track

Kate Schuler — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:35:00 -0400

"We're on the path to socialism in America," or so says the Republican National Committee, which in a special emergency session Wednesday wrestled with a resolution condemning the Democrats' "march to socialism." On the bright side, Republicans backed off a move to rebrand Democrats as a "socialist" party. But it seems the damage has already been done.

However, even the seeming prospect of punch-line status cannot divert Republicans from their current path of political marginalization and self-parody.

'Dead Aid' to Africa| KUOW-Puget Sound

Cecille Isidro — Thu, 07 May 2009 10:57:00 -0400

Michael Cohen is a senior research fellow with the New America Foundation. He co–helms the Privatization of Foreign Policy Initiative, which examines the growing influence and impact of non–state actors in US foreign policy. ...

Better Aid, Not 'Dead Aid,' for Africa

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:17:00 -0400

Dambisa Moyo's new book, "Dead Aid ," is a prime example of an old idea wrapped up in new packaging. As a Harvard-educated child of Africa (Zambia), with stints at Goldman Sachs and the World Bank, Moyo makes for an appealing messenger. However, the idea on which her book is based -- that foreign assistance for Africa hasn't worked -- is hardly an original one to most aid practitioners.

Democracy Promotion in the Age of Obama

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:20:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/22/2009 - 3:30pm