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.
Many Shuras Do Not a Government Make: International Community Engagement with Local Councils in Afghanistan
The need to engage local Afghan leaders and support community decision making has recently been promoted as a key element of both development and counterinsurgency strategies in Afghanistan. This Peace Brief supports the attempts to create a coherent long-term goal of local governance based on legitimate local actors, most likely selected through elections.
Iran's Subsidies Conundrum
This Peace Brief was written in advance of Iran’s subsidy reform. Currently scheduled for the end of September, the reform is one of the most debated and anticipated economic overhauls in the country. It has the potential to incur severe consequences in a country already burdened by sanctions and fraught with inflation and unemployment. At the same time, reform can potentially discourage waste, reduce inefficiencies in industries, and be a catalyst for economic liberalization.
Averting Hell on Earth: Religion and the Prevention of Genocide
This report reflects on historic examples of the role of religious resources in supporting and mitigating the outbreak of genocide and mass atrocity. The main recommendations outline ways to counteract the use of religion to incite mass violence and to engage with religious communities in genocide prevention.
Navigating Negotiations in Afghanistan
This brief is based on six months of field research conducted by Matt Waldman in Afghanistan for a forthcoming USIP report on the drivers of the insurgency and the risks, feasibility and implications of negotiations.
Civil Society in Darfur
This report explores civil society’s role in Darfur's greater peace process, examines mediators’ efforts to harness civil society to date, and argues that civil society could be extremely useful to the peacemaking process, but only if its representatives to the process are carefully selected and properly involved in the process.
Working with Groups of Friends
This volume explores how peacemakers can productively work with informal mini coalitions of states or intergovernmental organizations that provide support for resolving conflicts and implementing peace agreements—an innovation often referred to as groups of “Friends.” This handbook is part of the Peacemaker’s Toolkit series, published by the United States Institute of Peace.
Afghanistan: Conditions-Based Redeployment
President Barack Obama’s policy of a conditions-based redeployment in Afghanistan starting in July 2011 leaves him a lot of flexibility. The administration will likely decide to maintain the troop numbers in Afghanistan near the surge level next year, pending another review.
Advancing New Media Research
Part of the Blogs and Bullets series of publications from the Center of Innovation for Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding, this special report follows an earlier study by the authors—“Blogs and Bullets: New Media in Contentious Politics” (Peaceworks No. 65)—and is informed by the proceedings from a conference on the same topic held at USIP on July 8, 2010.
Finding Common Ground: Kirkuk as a Special Governorate (Arabic Version)
Arabic Version - Iraq’s March 2010 elections delivered a surprising virtual tie in the ethnically mixed and strategically important province of Kirkuk, making it an opportune time for fresh thinking on how to address persistent disputes over its status. The focus thus far has been on a winner-take-all permanent resolution to the status of Kirkuk. It may be more productive to consider models which give local authorities a direct role in designing potential compromises on the province, clarify ...
Fulfilling the Promise of Peace: Human Rights, Peace and Reconciliation in Bosnia
Daniel Serwer testified before the Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight on top priorities for U.S. diplomacy and assistance in Bosnia.