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.
Designing a Comprehensive Peace Process for Afghanistan
This report, sponsored by the Center for Conflict Management at the U.S. Institute of Peace, draws on comparative research literature on peace processes to identify lessons applicable to Afghanistan and makes recommendations to the international community, the Afghan government, and Afghan civil society for ensuring a more comprehensive, successful, and sustainable peace process.
The Economics of Peace
Efforts to rebuild economies in postconflict zones around the world underscore a central lesson: development practices that work in peaceful countries often don’t apply to countries in transition.
Diversity, Unity, and Nation Building in South Sudan
South Sudan’s success as a nation depends on getting its many distinct ethnic groups to promote, teach, and celebrate a shared cultural heritage. In this new Special Report, USIP Senior Fellow and former South Sudan government official Jok Madut Jok urges concrete steps toward creating a national identity.
Istanbul and Bonn Conferences: Building Blocks of the Afghan Transition Process
This brief highlights two upcoming major conferences that will play a critical role in the future of Afghanistan. Hodei Sultan, the author, is a program specialist for Afghanistan and Pakistan programs with USIP’s Center for Conflict Management.
Science Diplomacy for Nuclear Security
Nuclear security expert Micah Lowenthal calls on science diplomacy, which played a key role in promoting U.S.-Soviet cooperation, to renewed engagement on current issues: nonproliferation, countering nuclear terrorism, verification of nuclear treaties, and ballistic missile defense.
Leadership, Peace, Stability, and Prosperity in the DRC
People living in the DRC should band together with Congolese diaspora to develop a vision for DRC’s future that can drive governance reform. In this Special Report, diaspora leaders share ideas for invigorating the economy, judiciary, health, education, and democracy.
Impact or Illusion? Reintegration under the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program
The Afghan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP) aims to reintegrate insurgents in return for security, jobs and other incentives, but has seen limited results.
Gender, Conflict, and Peacebuilding
A new study reviews the state of research on gender and conflict and calls for increased emphasis on projects that include men and boys, sexual violence in conflict zones, and the relationship between gender identities and violence.
Praise for "International Mediation in Venezuela"
“All too often, our understanding of conflict dynamics in a given region is from 80,000 feet up and we thus miss the local texture of relationships that matter on the ground, as well as the non-linear events that can both benefit or plague peacebuilding. This book is the opposite—it is a cliff-hanger, telling the story of the role of international third parties intervening in the Venezuelan conflict (2002–2004) from the perspective of two of the third party actors. The narrative is rich in c...
Praise for "Customary Justice and the Rule of Law in War-Torn Societies"
“Brilliantly structured, this important book provides a realistic, honest, and original analysis of the tension between universal human rights and customary justice in post-conflict societies. It argu