WASHINGTON--"The cancer that has afflicted West Africa throughout the 1990s continues to spread. The Ivory Coast is just the most recent state to fall victim to violent instability in what now appears to be a civil war." With these sobering words Chester A. Crocker, chairman of the Board of Directors at the U.S. Institute of Peace, introduced the most recent development in the unfolding West African regional war at a December 9, 2002 Current Issues Briefing at the Institute of Peace titled, "...

WASHINGTON—The likelihood of war with Iraq now hinges on the outcome of the UN mandated inspections that begin in earnest this week. While the terms of these latest inspections—known as UNMOVIC—are different from the earlier inspection and disarmament program—known as UNSCOM—that began after the Gulf War in 1991, there are still important lessons to be learned from its experience. The knowledge gained in these earlier inspections also points to the enormous challenges now confronting UNMOVIC ...

WASHINGTON--Saddam Hussein's persecution of his political enemies, most notably the Kurds of northern Iraq and Shia Muslims in general, is notorious in the West, except in one case: that of the "Marsh Arabs" of southern Iraq. A society of 500,000 people who have lived in and around an enormous freshwater wetland ecosystem for some 5,000 years, the Marsh Arabs have suffered the total destruction of their economy, their culture, their habitat and their way of life. The devastation has not been ...

November 21, 2002 (WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts today enthusiastically approved the concept design of the United States Institute of Peace's headquarters, to be built at the intersection of 23rd St. and Constitution Ave. NW in Washington, adjacent to the National Mall. The Commission advises the U.S. and District of Columbia governments on architectural and artistic matters that affect the capital city's appearance. The headquarters "is a wonderful building in the ...

WASHINGTON--The United States Institute of Peace mourns the passing of the eminent Israeli scholar Ehud Sprinzak, who succumbed to throat cancer on Nov. 8 at the age of 62. An expert on terrorism and right-wing extremism in Israeli politics and society, Sprinzak had been a senior fellow at the Institute in 1997-98 and a grantee in 1990. Institute President Richard Solomon remembered Sprinzak as an exemplar of the Institute's bridge-building role. For example, he convened two major conferenc...

WASHINGTON—While the Bush administration presses Iraq to end its weapons-of-mass-destruction programs and threatens to use force if Saddam Hussein fails to comply with UN Security Council resolutions, it is important also to explore means of bringing about regime change in Baghdad by nonviolent means. Even if such efforts fail to bring down Hussein, they may help to shorten war or reduce casualties. If successful, they would improve the prospects for a democratic regime post-Hussein. To exam...

WASHINGTON--Macedonia won its independence constitutionally and without violence in 1991 and was often praised by outsiders in the succeeding decade for the way it handled human rights, but recent years have posed enormous challenges. Charges of discrimination against Albanians and inequitable representation in the public administration and public sector companies have roiled ethnic relations. Disruption of trade because of sanctions against Yugoslavia and the Greek embargo against Macedonia,...

WASHINGTON—A facet of Afghanistan's reconstruction to which little attention and scant resources have been directed is the need for free and independent media. This is a crucial component of any open and transparent democratic system, but making it happen in Afghanistan will be a huge challenge, even if the requisite energy and resources are brought to bear. This is largely because Afghanistan has never had a free press. Americans take press freedom for granted, but the concept is foreign and...