The U.S. Institute of Peace is pleased to announce the launch of its redesigned web site. The product of three years of research, consultation, and implementation, the new site provides an invigorated presence on the World Wide Web as part of the Institute's ongoing efforts to increase its reach to audiences around the globe. The new site features improved navigation and graphic design, and expanded content across the site. The launch was spearheaded by web developer Amy Bucci and web edit...

WASHINGTON—American-led reconstruction efforts in Iraq have intensified, but the current focus on internal issues neglects the important role Iraq's neighbors will play in determining the ultimate success and stability of postwar Iraq. Neighboring governments in Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia have complex interests at stake in Iraq and varied concerns about the U.S. military presence. The United States faces a two-pronged political challenge in Iraq: not only creating ...

WASHINGTON—Amatzia Baram, a distinguished professor of Middle East history at the University of Haifa, has begun a one-year fellowship, his second, at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Professor Baram is particularly well-known and highly regarded for his expertise in Iraqi history, politics, and society. As a senior fellow, he will concentrate on state-mosque relations in Iraq. Before commencing his fellowship, he was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he focused on political...

WASHINGTON—Since 9/11, two major U.S. national security priorities have been to prevent further terrorist attacks against U.S. targets, and to disable terrorists with a demonstrated or potential global reach. Among the stated purposes of the Iraq war was to expunge a supposed connection between the government of Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, and to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to states and terrorist groups. While few have denied the benefits of a Hussein-less...

WASHINGTON—The United States Institute of Peace is pleased to announce that Timothy W. Docking, African affairs specialist in the Research and Studies Program, has been named a 2003-2004 White House fellow. Docking is one of 12 Americans chosen to serve one-year fellowships starting Sept. 1, 2003. Fellows, representing a broad range of academic and military disciplines, are chosen at the end of a rigorous and competitive selection process. Docking's career has focused on the study of politi...

WASHINGTON—Kevin Kiley, a senior at Granite Bay High School, Granite Bay, California, won first prize in the 2002-2003 National Peace Essay Contest, sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace. Kiley's essay, "Kuwait and Kosovo: The Harm Principle and Humanitarian War," was judged to be the best of more than 1,250 entries received from high school students in 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and overseas schools. Kiley was presented with his award at the National Peace Ess...

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Institute of Peace Press has just published The United States and Coercive Diplomacy, edited by Brandeis University Professor Robert Art and U.S. Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator Patrick Cronin, formerly director of research and studies at the Institute of Peace. The U.S. government has turned to coercive diplomacy—the threat or limited use of military force to change a state's or group's behavior—eight times since the end of the Cold War. The...

WASHINGTON—As looting and disorder in Iraq abate, there remains a risk of violent conflict over real property claims, especially in Kirkuk and other areas the Saddam Hussein regime tried to Arabize. For more than 35 years, people of all ethnic and religious groups in Iraq have been uprooted and forced to move in order to satisfy Ba'athist political objectives. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds and Turkmen are now trying to return to their homes, many of which are occupied by Arabs. Iraq is bound...