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.
To Save Lives, or Not to Save Lives
The humanitarian crisis in Syria is incomprehensible -- and getting worse. The United Nations estimates that 9.3 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian aid. Among those, approximately 3.5 million people are in "hard to reach" or besieged areas. Exact numbers of deceased, injured, and displaced Syrians are difficult to verify, but there is relative consensus that real figures are higher than estimates reflect.
Could Colombia's Election Kill Its Peace Process?
Colombia's presidential campaign is in its final days before run-off elections on Sunday, June 15, and as the contest winds down, it has become clear that the fate of the two peace processes that have been spearheaded by President Juan Manuel Santos hang in the balance. An election marked in an earlier phase by dirty politicking and mudslinging -- with mutual accusations over narco-financing and wiretapping (complete with authenticated audiovisuals of efforts by challenger Oscar Iván Zuluaga'...
Afghans Still Enthusiastic About Vote
After the first round of voting in the presidential race in Afghanistan, where over 7 million Afghans went to the polls on April 5, 2014, a handful of political pundits and interest groups urged the two leading candidates, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, to make a deal to avoid a second round scheduled for June 14. President Karzai played an active role in brokering between the candidates and the political elite. A range of arguments were put forth on behalf of such a dea...
Karzai: What Will History Say?
Years of suspicion and acrimony between the U.S. and Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai likely will give way to a more generous reading of his tenure in the history books, according to a former United Nations official and a retired American general who led international forces there.
U.S. Africa Summit Leaders Face Weighty Agenda for Continent
President Barack Obama and African leaders attending the first U.S.-Africa Summit in Washington next month face an array of factors undermining the democratic development and economic growth achieved on the continent in recent decades, according to three former high-level U.S. officials on Africa who spoke at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
National Security Advisor Rice Vows Long-Term Ties with Africa
National Security Advisor Susan Rice drew attention to Africa's progress in the past two decades and its possibilities for economic growth, good governance and long-term stability, in a speech at the U.S. Institute of Peace on the eve of next week's U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.
Release of the National Defense Panel report, “Ensuring a Strong U.S. Defense for the Future”
On behalf of the co-chairs of the National Defense Panel, the United States Institute of Peace, the facilitating organization of the Panel, releases the following statement:
Colombia’s War Survivors Appeal for U.S. Support, Responsibility
Victims of the five-decade war in Colombia, one of the world’s most longstanding conflicts, appealed during a visit to Washington this week for the U.S. and other nations to accept their share of responsibility for the effects and help end remaining fighting to improve the odds for the peace being negotiated in Havana.
Immunity Cannot Allow Impunity
African leaders want to exempt themselves from prosecution for terrible crimes -- but new research shows their people aren't as forgiving as they might think.
Holding It Together
Ending conflict demands more than knowing why countries go to pieces -- it calls for knowing why they don't.