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.
![Feingold Presses Three African States on Elections](https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/styles/summary_image/public/20150224-RF-2480-NF.jpg?itok=PzA4l5-E)
Feingold Presses Three African States on Elections
Russell Feingold, the U.S. Special Envoy working to stabilize Africa’s Great Lakes region, urged Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to hold fair, democratic elections as a key step to bringing peace to the region. And he pressed the DRC to launch a promised military offensive in the country’s East against an ethnic Hutu militia that includes fighters who participated in the anti-Tutsi genocide in Rwanda 21 years ago.
![Liberia’s President Thanks U.S. for Helping Control Ebola Epidemic](https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/styles/summary_image/public/20150226-President-Sirleaf-event-NF.jpg?itok=RWFNU5i6)
Liberia’s President Thanks U.S. for Helping Control Ebola Epidemic
In August, West Africa’s outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus exploded into Liberia’s capital, filling its hospitals beyond capacity and killing many of the city’s already-too-few doctors and nurses. With her government struggling and Liberians dying in Monrovia’s streets, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf placed urgent calls to both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, “who I awakened at night,” she recalled today.
![Q&A on Iraq: 'Standing on Quicksand'](https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/styles/summary_image/public/20150310-IRAQ_UNREST_3nf.jpg?itok=8wMNrVxl)
Q&A on Iraq: 'Standing on Quicksand'
Iraq faces an array of obstacles this year, as the government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi struggles to unify competing factions and confronts the brutal militants of the so-called “Islamic State” militarily. Abadi must navigate significant economic challenges and massive displacements of citizens because of the fighting, while struggling to meet terms set out by the country’s Kurdish Regional Government in the north and the Sunni coalition who joined his government in Baghdad.
![Ukrainians Broadly Reject Russian Actions and Influence, Poll Shows](https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/styles/summary_image/public/20130309-Ukraine-Poll-event_0.jpg?itok=-xUZk6G4)
Ukrainians Broadly Reject Russian Actions and Influence, Poll Shows
A new survey of Ukrainians shows a broad majority, including in the East, reject the boldest moves against their country, belying notions that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be winning the fight through propaganda and military aid to separatists.
![Even Amid War, Ukraine Must Confront Corruption](https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/styles/summary_image/public/20150311-Can-Ukraine-Change-7404-NF.jpg?itok=MoTfG0FW)
Even Amid War, Ukraine Must Confront Corruption
As Ukraine battles Russian-backed forces in its eastern Donbas region, it must not let the war deter it from fighting the country’s endemic corruption, according to a panel of experts who spoke at the U.S. Institute of Peace on March 3. Indeed, the existential threat posed by Russia’s aggression can serve as a stimulus for the Ukrainian government to dismantle the systems of corruption that have dominated governance since independence, the specialists said.
![Deputy Secretary Blinken Urges 'Bold' U.N. Peacekeeping Review](https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/styles/summary_image/public/20150311-U.N.Peacekeepers-7975-NF.jpg?itok=3VFYPG3H)
Deputy Secretary Blinken Urges 'Bold' U.N. Peacekeeping Review
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday urged a high-level panel reviewing United Nations peace operations to conduct a rigorous assessment that will challenge member nations to ensure peacekeepers have the flexibility, capabilities and the political backing they need to function more effectively in increasingly complex conflict zones.
![Ukraine’s Rotten Front](https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/styles/summary_image/public/20150312-Petro-Porochenko-Strasbourg-jun-2014-ClaudeTruong-Ngoc-Wikimedia-Commonsi-PC.jpg?itok=6vGck9fg)
Ukraine’s Rotten Front
Ukrainian leaders, it has been said, never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Though it’s still unclear whether the new government can break this pattern, the opportunity before it now is nothing less than to undo the system of institutionalized corruption that has held Ukraine down since independence, and made it vulnerable to aggression and dismemberment.
![How to Stop Extremism Before It Starts](https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/styles/summary_image/public/20150317-How-to-Stop-Extremism-before-it-starts-GroundReportFlickr-PC.jpg?itok=RaH5_3qP)
How to Stop Extremism Before It Starts
Endemic corruption is padding the ranks of militant fundamentalist groups. Here's how communities are fighting back.
![The Women in the Middle of the War](https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/styles/summary_image/public/20150318-Women-in-the-Middle-of-War--FreedomHouseFlickr-PC.jpg?itok=6D7R7nmg)
The Women in the Middle of the War
Rampant sexual assault has unmade allegiances in Syria's civil war -- and it may well get worse no matter which side wins.
![Afghan President Ghani’s Message in U.S. Visit: Help Us Stand on Our Own Feet](https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/styles/summary_image/public/20150322-Ghani-with-Abdullah-Wiki-NF.jpg?itok=A1_tFGrJ)
Afghan President Ghani’s Message in U.S. Visit: Help Us Stand on Our Own Feet
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani likely will use his first visit to Washington since taking office to thank the American people for their sacrifice for the cause of peace in Afghanistan, and to appeal for steadfast backing to prevent a precipitous drawdown of U.S. civilian and military support that could plunge his country back into a bloody civil war. According to experts at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Ghani will emphasize that Afghanistan’s new leadership is committed to reforming government,...