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.
Tunisia: Democratic but Precarious
Amid central Tunisia’s dry farmlands, the city of Sidi Bouzid bustled one recent day under warm autumn sunshine. Street vendors and shoppers jostled under the roof of a new, open-air market, selling and buying produce or cheap clothes. Seven years after an impoverished street vendor in this city immolated himself and ignited the Arab Spring revolutions, his homeland has achieved a precarious stability. By many measures the Arab world’s only democracy, Tunisia remains hobbled by corruption, unemployment and violent extremism.
USAID in Afghanistan: Challenges and Successes
For nearly sixteen years in Afghanistan, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has sought to deliver effective development results in a war zone. Its most extensive program since Vietnam, the effort has pushed the agency well beyond its traditional boundary of...
The Middle East: Divided, Dysfunctional
Even before President Donald Trump upended a core U.S. policy recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, late 2017 has been tumultuous in the Middle East. The Islamic State (ISIS) “caliphate” collapsed. Syria’s Assad regime all but won the six-year civil war, consolidating Iranian and Russian influence. Saudi Arabia purged...
Déby’s Chad
Since gaining its independence from France in 1960, Chad has evolved from a one-party state into a multiparty regime, endured successive rebellions, and become an interventionist regional actor. Thanks to both an oil boom and corruption, segments of the Chadian elite have become very rich, but most of the population is...
Frank Aum on How to Deal with North Korea
Frank Aum discusses the dangers of war with North Korea, offers possible solutions to the crisis and tells us what he thinks the chances are for diplomacy and negotiation.
Fostering Diplomatic-Defense-Development (3D) Cooperation in Responding to Complex Crises
The US diplomatic, defense, and development communities (known as the “3Ds”) increasingly find themselves working together to tackle complex crises. This collaboration has already proved its worth, but how can it be made even more effective? A recent USIP research project sought to...
What Does President Trump’s Decision on Jerusalem Mean for Israeli-Palestinian Peace?
Today, President Trump—for the second time while in office—exercised his waiver authority on the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act. The law calls for the United States Embassy, currently located in Tel Aviv, to be moved to Jerusalem, in recognition of that city as Israel’s capital. The choice to waive enactment in the name of national security interests hits the president’s desk every six months and, beginning with President Clinton in 1998, has been continuously exercised by each president. But this time was different.
Matriarchal and Tribal Identity, Community Resilience, and Vulnerability in South Libya
Since the Libyan revolution and fall of Muammar Gadhafi in 2011, violent extremist organizations (VEOs) have taken advantage of the subsequent lack of security to secure a foothold in the country. The south, however, has proved resilient to VEO recruitment. This report examines the two...
United States, North Korea Stuck in Dangerous Zero-Sum Game
North Korea’s successful test of a new intercontinental missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland has escalated an already dangerous standoff. After the Hwasong-15 missile soared 2,800 miles high and then crashed in waters off Japan, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un now has the ability to hit "everywhere in the world, basically."
Sexual Violence, Exploitation, and Abuse
Former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and current UN Secretary-General António Guterres have both recognized sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by interveners as a risk to peacekeeping operations, which has led to a series of new policy responses. As institutions begin to adopt new...