Experts from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest analysis and perspective on the world’s critical hot spots, U.S. and global security and issues involved in violent conflict, based on the Institute’s work on the ground and with key individuals, governments and organizations. They give interviews and background briefings to journalists and write for news outlets around the world.
At least 44 people have been killed in an explosion in Pakistan during a rally organised by an Islamist party. Another 100 people were injured in the explosion in the north-west Bajaur district, where Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl was holding a meeting. Police have found evidence suggesting the explosion...
In the midst of escalating attacks between Ukraine and Russia, Saudi Arabia has intervened and will be hosting talks on Ukraine's peace plan this weekend. The plan seeks to hold Russia accountable for war atrocities, address reparations, and mandate the return of all captured Ukrainian territory to its...
In 2018, Bangladeshi journalist Shahidul Alam was picked up by police, tortured, and imprisoned for 107 days, after he gave an interview to Al Jazeera television. Following a high-profile international campaign for his release, he is now out of jail. But he is not off the hook, since the Bangladeshi government...
Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, the head of Niger’s presidential guard, with other members of Niger’s armed forces, on Friday declared himself head of a transitional government he called “the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland,” while international leaders and organizations including...
For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started, North Korea has invited foreign visitors to the country. The occasion was the 70th anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended combat in the Korean War, and the visitors were representatives of North Korea's wartime allies. North Korean...
An explosion at a political rally on Sunday in northwest Pakistan killed at least 43 people and wounded 200 more, officials said, the latest sign of the deteriorating security situation in the country, where some militant groups have become more active over the past two years since finding a haven in neighboring...
A military coup this week in Niger, a land-locked former French colony, marked the 13th attempt − 10 of them successful − to overthrow a government in Africa since 2020, according to researchers. Experts said it's difficult to concisely explain the large volume of coups in Africa's Sahel region. Some point to the...
Tucked away in a new law aimed at raising the draft age for Russia’s military are several mysterious amendments that are designed to create new armed groups or paramilitary companies throughout the country. The military companies, also known as “special enterprises,” would be there to maintain...
The United States and its Western allies are faced with a difficult conundrum as they navigate potential responses to the military takeover in Niger if democratic rule is not restored. Under US law, if the US State Department formally classifies that takeover as a coup, it would require the US to cut foreign...
Michelle Gavin, former US Ambassador to Botswana and senior fellow in Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and Susan Stigant, Director of Africa Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace discuss the military coup in Niger, the Russia-Africa Summit, the conflict in Sudan, and US-Africa relations...