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.
On Security, Expect Surprise, Plan for the Shocks
The next administration is sure to face unforeseen and disruptive crises such as unknown diseases, natural disasters or sudden shifts in the world’s strategic landscape, panelists said at the U.S. Institute of Peace “Passing the Baton” conference on Jan. 10. Where these challenges will arise is uncertain, according to a retired general, a World Bank leader, a homeland security expert and a think-tank scholar. Attempts at forecasting threats are helpful, they said, but most critical is to impr...
Agenda: ‘Global System,’ Cyber War, Defense—and Tweets
When ABC News’ Martha Raddatz asked four national security thinkers to list top priorities for the new administration, discussion at the U.S. Institute of Peace “Passing the Baton” conference swung quickly to the pros and cons of disruption—specifically, President-elect Trump’s spontaneous declarations, via Twitter, on foreign affairs.
Will the Trump Era Uphold U.S. Global Leadership?
At USIP’s Passing the Baton conference, former Obama administration officials Michéle Flournoy and Jacob Sullivan suggested that President-elect Donald Trump has raised unsettling questions about how he will conduct foreign policy and whether he will continue to meet historic U.S. commitments to institutions such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The incoming deputy national security advisor, KT McFarland, argued that new approaches by Trump, combined with a nimble attitude, will cre...
'Political Peace' Is Possible, Says AEI President
Arthur Brooks, an economist and musician who is president of the American Enterprise Institute, said the cause of the current U.S. political rifts has been misdiagnosed and outlined a prescription for achieving “maybe the most elusive kind of peace of all around the world today.” In a presentation at Passing the Baton, a conference at the U.S. Institute of Peace that was co-sponsored by his think tank and four others, Brooks declared, “Political peace is possible.”
Standing by Colombia for Peace, as in War
When Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos accepts his Nobel Peace Prize this week in Oslo for pursuing an end to a half century of conflict, Americans can take a measure of pride.
In a Divided U.S., One Event Proved There's Still Bipartisan Foreign Policy
Amid the public debate about America's divisions, it may have been easy to miss this image just days before the inauguration: the national security advisers of Presidents Obama and Trump standing side by side to vow bipartisan cooperation in the transition of authority.
As Global Violence Expands, How Can Aid Adapt?
The speakers from OECD, meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace, examined the ramifications for the aid community and others trying to address the burgeoning problem of fragility, when a state is weakened because its government is either unable or unwilling to meet the needs of its citizens.
Peres, in Pursuit of Peace, Advanced Power of the People
Shimon Peres served twice as Prime Minister of Israel and most recently as President. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, along with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, for securing the Oslo peace accords, and he never stopped believing in the agreement’s principals and main contours for a two-state solution.
South Sudan War Calls for Firm Intervention, Lyman Says
A peace plan for South Sudan that was intended to end three years of fighting in the world’s newest nation has failed largely because it “depends on the cooperation of the very antagonists who brought about the current civil war,” former U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Princeton Lyman told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee today.
Iraq: Recapturing Mosul is Only the Beginning
Iraqi government troops and allied Kurdish forces opened their assault on the city of Mosul before dawn today, fighting to recapture Iraq’s second-largest city from guerrillas of the Islamic State (ISIS). While a military defeat of the extremist group is expected, that will not bring stability or an end to extremist violence in Iraq unless it is followed by a broad reconciliation among deeply divided communal groups, according to Iraq specialists at USIP.