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.
Elite Capture and Corruption of Security Sectors
The objective of US security sector assistance is to help build effective, accountable, responsive, transparent, and legitimate security sectors in partner nations to address common security risks. Such action ultimately benefits US national interests, as when the United States modernized West Germany’s military during the Cold War; when US security sector support to South Korea helped the United States deter regional threats; and when, in Ukraine, US security sector assistance contributed to success in fending off Russian aggression in 2022. Similarly, the United States helped Georgia turn its traffic police into one of the most trusted institutions in the country, supported Albania as it updated the governance of its security forces, and assisted Colombia in making progress toward ending its long-standing armed conflict.
Beijing and the Balloon: The Unbearable Lightness of Being China
On February 2, a high-altitude air balloon was sighted over Montana and over the following days the focal point of conversation for people across the United States became the white airship aloft 60,000 feet above the earth. Inquiring minds wanted to know what it was, what it was doing and from whence it came.
U.S., Iraq Emphasize Economic Cooperation as Core of Strategic Partnership
Sarhang Hamasaeed looks at the key priorities for the U.S.-Iraq partnership, the challenges and opportunities for Iraq’s new government, joint efforts to address the human legacy of ISIS and how Washington can help stabilize Iraq’s economy.
A Key Election for Nigeria Raises a Rising Demand: Inclusion
Nigerians, nearly one-sixth of all Africans, will choose a new president next week in what may be Africa’s most consequential election of 2023. A central demand amid this campaign is a better inclusion of Nigeria’s hundreds of ethnic, religious and other communities in elections and governance.
Carla Freeman on U.S.-China Strategic Competition in Space
Amid a technological boom, space is becoming the latest front for U.S.-China strategic competition. And with only a handful of Cold War-era treaties governing it, the world “needs some new rules and norms to manage a very precious environment for the future,” says USIP’s Carla Freeman.
A New Approach for Digital Media, Peace and Conflict
Discussions about the negative effects of online communication on society — including its potential to contribute to violent conflict — tend to focus primarily on misinformation and disinformation. The former refers to factually incorrect information that manages to reach audiences at scale, whereas the latter refers to inaccurate information that is spread deliberately and malignantly by some actor or agent in order to produce specific perceptions and outcomes in physical or digital space.
Is Pakistan Poised to Take on the TTP?
The Pakistani Taliban’s late January attack in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, claimed the lives of more than 100 worshipping at a police compound mosque. The bombing was claimed by a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban) initially, but later denied by the TTP’s central leadership. It was the group’s deadliest attack since its 2021 resurgence after the Afghan Taliban took power in Afghanistan. As Pakistan struggles with a major economic crisis, the fallout from the deadly floods of last fall and an ever-turbulent political scene, the TTP’s growing threat presents yet another challenge for the struggling nation.
Fighting Corruption Harder than Fighting ISIS, Says Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Fuad Hussein on February 10 laid out the new Iraqi government’s priorities, outlined areas of common interest with the United States and defended his country’s relations with Iran, Russia and China — countries that are all at odds with the United States.
China and Strategic Instability in Space: Pathways to Peace in an Era of US-China Strategic Competition
Recent defense white papers published by the Chinese government refer to outer space as the “commanding heights” in international strategic competition, and the United States has explicitly identified space as a warfighting domain. While current strains in the US-China relationship have made managing potential conflict in space difficult, it is not impossible. This report identifies several areas in which the United States and China, as two of the world’s three most formidable space powers, urgently need to foster greater communication and cooperation.
After Beijing’s Balloon, What’s Next for U.S.-China Ties?
Days before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to travel to Beijing, the Pentagon announced it had detected a Chinese “surveillance balloon” over Montana. The incident sparked intense speculation about China’s intentions, including why it would choose to employ a relatively low-tech surveillance device. Ultimately, Blinken announced on February 3 that he was postponing his trip, which would have been the first by a U.S. secretary of state in five years. With U.S.-China tensions already simmering, the balloon episode injects more mistrust and scuttled the opportunity presented by Blinken’s trip to resume cooperation on areas of mutual interest and demonstrate that both sides want to better manage bilateral tensions.