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.
As Violent Extremism Evolves, Local Partners are Key in Finding Solutions
In the 22 years since the 9/11 attacks, the global community has grappled with how best to respond to, prevent and address violent extremism and its impacts, including acts of terrorism. Policymakers and practitioners alike have recognized the need to avoid overly repressive measures, so significant investment has gone into a version of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) that adopts a less-securitized approach alongside an array of peacebuilding, development and public health tools.
Searching for Peace in Solomon Islands
In recent years, the Pacific nation of Solomon Islands has been in the news for its controversial and secretive security pact with China. However, Solomon Islands’ peace and security is contingent on far more than treaties and its current prime minister’s shifting geopolitical allegiances.
Two Years of the Taliban’s ‘Gender Apartheid’ in Afghanistan
Two years after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the human rights situation in the country is abysmal, with women and girls experiencing the worst of the regime’s policies. There is growing evidence that the Taliban are committing the crime against humanity of gender persecution of women and girls, an assertion Human Rights Watch made in a new report. This summer, the World Economic Forum slated Afghanistan last of the 146 countries it ranked in a study on gender gaps. The scope of the Taliban’s women’s rights restrictions is truly unprecedented.
In Earth’s Climate Crisis, Africa Demands a Fairer Sharing of Costs
Earth’s intensifying storms, heat, droughts and floods underscore that humanity is falling behind in its race against climate change. With global powers and institutions still debating how to transform economies and share the costs of surviving a destabilizing climate, the planet’s most vulnerable continent managed partial advances this month toward a regional consensus. The first-ever Africa Climate Summit amplified demands for a robust, fairer collective response to a warming planet — but fell short of forging a unified African position. Critically, it missed a chance to outline a strategy for dealing with the combined impacts of climate and violent conflicts.
How Small States Navigate U.S.-China Rivalry: The Case of Cambodia
Amid growing distrust and an intensifying systemic rivalry, U.S.-China relations are at the lowest point in decades. In Washington, the last three U.S. administrations have sought to balance, challenge and counter China’s rises in Asia. In Beijing, revisionist leader Xi Jinping’s regime has an ambitious plan for “national rejuvenation” and views the United States as the major strategic threat to China’s ambitions. Countries like Cambodia are caught in between.
Afghanistan’s Two Years of Humanitarian Crisis Under the Taliban
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 immediately exacerbated the country’s precarious humanitarian situation, leaving millions in need of food assistance and other support. Two years later, the situation remains dire, with Afghan women and girls acutely affected by the Taliban’s draconian restrictions on their daily lives. The international community continues to struggle to find a balance between providing desperately needed aid while also pressuring the regime in Kabul to moderate its hardline policies. While Afghans need emergency assistance, the country will continue to deal with cycles of crises until its deep-seated economic challenges are addressed.
Why Now? The Tortured History of Iran’s Hostage Seizures
In January 1981, I stood at the foot of the Air Algerie flight that flew 52 American diplomats to freedom after 444 days as hostages in Iran. Some of them were my friends. I still remember their gaunt appearances after being caged and cut off from the world for so long as they quietly disembarked. That original hostage crisis was a turning point in U.S. history in the 20th century — and has shaped angry American views of the Islamic republic ever since.
U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit: Getting Beyond the Honeymoon Phase
President Joe Biden will host Pacific Island leaders for a summit at the White House starting next Monday, marking one year since the first-ever such summit in September 2022. These high-level meetings signify the increasing level of attention that the U.S. government is paying to the region as its concerns about China’s activities there grow.
The West Should Help, Not Hinder, Russia’s Anti-war Exiles
As democracies defend Ukraine and themselves against Vladimir Putin’s project of a world governed by ruthless violence, a vital ally is Russia’s own civil society, now effectively crushed within Russia but energetic within the new exile community of antiwar Russians, most of them young and well educated.
How to Help ASEAN Address South China Sea ‘Gray-zone’ Challenges
In early August, a Chinese coast guard vessel fired a water cannon at a Philippine supply boat, in what was yet another example of Beijing’s so-called “gray-zone” tactics in the South China Sea. These gray zone activities are a form of slow intensity conflict that China has increasingly employed over the last year to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea.