Publications
Articles, publications, books, tools and multimedia features from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest news, analysis, research findings, practitioner guides and reports, all related to the conflict zones and issues that are at the center of the Institute’s work to prevent and reduce violent conflict.
Bridging Modernity and Tradition: Rule of Law and Search for Justice in Afghanistan
A legitimate, functioning and coherent justice system is urgently needed in Afghanistan, where a legacy of three decades of war, continued insecurity, endemic corruption, and lack of resources hobble development. In this light, USIP has produced a new USIPeace Briefing discussing the challenges of building rule of law as well as mechanisms of formal and informal justice in the country.
Religion and Peacemaking Web Links
Below are links to resources primarily in English that provide substantive content on religion and peacemaking activities of various faiths, with a particular focus on specific topics: the work of Catholic groups, faith-based NGOs, Islamic perspectives on peace, and "just war" doctrine. Faith-Based Non-Governmental Organizations Islamic Area Studies Religious Peace Organizations University-based Centers for the study of Religio...
Natural Resources, Conflict, and Conflict Resolution
Competition over natural resources such as oil or diamonds can lead to, intensify, or sustain violence—the resource curse—but natural resources can also play a role in managing and resolving conflict and preventing its reoccurrence. This study guide will illuminate the role of natural resources as causes of conflict, and their role in helping to bring about peace.
New Hopes for Negotiated Solutions in Colombia
Drawing from a series of conferences and events organized by USIP, this report examines the status of current peace initiatives in Colombia with the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). It also assesses the paramilitary demobilization process and analyzes the role of local, national, and international third-party actors in each of these processes. The analysis reflects developments on the ground through the end of September 2007.
Seven Months Into the Surge: What Does It Mean For Iraqis?
Based on conversations held in the summer of 2007 with Iraqi political leaders, senior government officials, members of parliament, and Iraqi citizens, this report shows that the security and political situations in Iraq in the summer of 2007 were tentatively and marginally improved in Baghdad but in a state of flux, and that the political process was far behind the military effort.
Engaging Islamists and Promoting Democracy: A Preliminary Assessment
While U.S. engagement of moderate Islamists remains a hotly debated question, U.S. democracy promoters have been working with legal Islamist parties and their leaders over the past decade. This Special Report examines the experiences of U.S. democracy promoters at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) working with Islamist parties in three countries: Morocco, Jordan, and Yemen.
Model Codes for Post-Conflict Criminal Justice
Of unparalleled breadth, depth, and authority, the Model Codes for Post-Conflict Criminal Justice is a criminal law reform tool tailored to the needs of countries emerging from conflict. Its three volumes present four complete legal codes that national and international actors can use to create, overhaul, update, or plug gaps in the criminal laws in individual post-conflict states.
Friends Indeed?
Addressing an increasingly important and greatly understudied phenomenon in international affairs, this groundbreaking volume analyzes the formation, actions, and efficacy of groups of states created to support UN peacemaking and peace operations. While these groups—Friends of the Secretary-General and related mechanisms—may represent just one small component of the United Nations’ increased involvement in conflict management, they have fast become a critical element in today’s system of glob...
Kosovo: Breaking the Deadlock
Kosovo was left at the end of the NATO/Yugoslavia war in 1999 in limbo. It is still there, despite Security Council Resolution 1244, which foresaw a process for deciding its status. What is the way forward?
The Central African Republic: Worsening Crisis in a Troubled Region
Recently, internal conflicts stemming from past and present realities and spillover of political unrest and violence from neighboring countries have given the Central African Republic, one of the least known countries in Africa, more prominence on the international map. Read more about this troubled region.