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.
With both the presidential and legislative election results now in, the 2024 Taiwan election cycles clearly presage major potential tensions for American security concerns in the Pacific for the rest of the year. The combination of a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) victory in the Taiwan presidential election and uncertainty about how the Taiwanese legislature will be...
In Myanmar, a brief ceasefire between a powerful alliance of ethnic armed groups and the ruling military junta appears to have been broken just hours after it was negotiated at China’s urging. The Three Brotherhood Alliance, one of the factions fighting in a coordinated armed struggle against the Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s military junta), agreed to the...
Taiwan’s election results are in, and in a three-way race, voters chose Lai Ching-te as the candidate who best represented what they’re looking for in a leader — the status quo. Lai, the current vice president and head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), declared victory Saturday with just over...
One day after the U.S. and U.K. launched retaliatory strikes against Houthi militant locations in Yemen, President Biden said the U.S. is prepared to take action again if the Iran-backed rebels continue to attack ships in the Red Sea. “We will make sure that we respond to the Houthis if they continue with this outrageous behavior along wit...
Some Orthodox Christians in Ukraine will celebrate Christmas on Sunday (Jan. 7), but instead of Christmas bells, they will hear air raid sirens. The recent onslaught of missiles striking across the country reminded the world of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategy of...
The killing of a top Hamas official in Beirut and a shock explosion that killed dozens of mourners of a top Iranian general are challenging efforts to contain fighting on multiple fronts in the Middle East from exploding into a larger war. It’s not yet clear what connection, if any, there is between the suspected Israeli assassination against...
Afghanistan's Taliban government is touting major strides in combating drug production and trafficking over the past year. Acting defense minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid announced at a Kabul press conference on Sunday that 4,472 tons of narcotics had been destroyed, 8,282 individuals involved in production and smuggling were...
A sweeping purge of Chinese generals has weakened the People's Liberation Army, exposing deep-rooted corruption that could take more time to fix and slow Chinese leader Xi Jinping's military modernization drive amid geopolitical tensions, analysts say. China's top lawmakers ousted nine senior military officers from the national legislative body on Friday, state media reported, a step that typically precedes further punishment for...
Southeast Asia’s online scam hubs are drawing growing attention from governments and law enforcement agencies well beyond the region as the criminal syndicates behind them search further afield for victims of their cons and human trafficking. On December 8, the United Kingdom announced sanctions against nine people and five companies accused of trafficking people into...
As a new space race between the United States and China takes off, Africa is increasingly an arena for competition between the two superpowers. And so far, analysts say, China is ahead. While Africa's space agencies are still in their infancy compared to those of the U.S. and China, analysts say space has become a new frontier for diplomacy with...