Question And Answer
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.
Could Syria Have Been Saved by a U.S. Effort to Bring It to Peace with Israel?
Over a decade into Syria’s civil war, it’s hard to fathom the country at peace and integrated with the international community. The Assad regime’s brutal oppression of protests in March 2011 sparked more than 10 years of violence, conflict and tragedy in the country. But in the weeks before, there was quiet hope that a clandestine U.S. effort could broker a land-for-peace deal between Israel and Syria. For Syria, such a peace agreement would have resulted in the lifting of U.S. sanctions and financial assistance, trade and investment from the international community, giving Syrians hope for a better future.
Event Extra: The Untold Story of a U.S. Attempt to Forge Israel-Syria Peace
In a new USIP book, Ambassador Frederic Hof tells the story of a secret U.S. effort to broker peace between Israel and Syria between 2009-2011. Just as that effort seemed to be making important progress, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime began to violently suppress Syrian protesters, scuttling the chance for peace. Hof discusses what the foundation of Israel-Syria peace would have looked like, the pre-2011 perceptions of Assad as a "reformer," President Biden's trip to the Middle East and how the international community should deal with the Syrian dictator today.
Ambassador Hesham Youssef on Biden’s Trip to the Middle East
Biden set to meet nine Middle East leaders, USIP’s Ambassador Hesham Youssef says the trip aims to untangle recent tensions rather than “result in all kinds of breakthroughs and deliverables … the question is whether we can set ourselves on a path that can lead to more constructive relations.”
Russia’s War on Ukraine: How to Get to Negotiations
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine will negotiate with Russia when Ukrainian forces have pushed Russian army back to their positions of February 24, the day President Vladimir Putin initiated its latest war of aggression against Ukraine. The decision on when and how to negotiate rests entirely with Ukraine. But the United States and other allies can provide the support Ukrainians need in that process. What would that support look like?
Chad’s Delayed Transition is Frustrating Its Citizens
On May 14, demonstrations against France’s influence in Chad turned violent, injuring several policemen and leading to damage at several French-owned gasoline stations in Chad’s capital city of N'Djamena. Wakit Tamaa, the civil society and opposition coalition that called for the demonstrations, had organized the event for participants to express their disapproval of French military influence in the country — including perceived French support for the Transitional Military Council (CMT) that has ruled the country since April 2021.
La Transition Retardée du Tchad Frustre ses Citoyens
On May 14, demonstrations against France’s influence in Chad turned violent, injuring several policemen and leading to damage at several French-owned gasoline stations in Chad’s capital city of N'Djamena. Wakit Tamaa, the civil society and opposition coalition that called for the demonstrations, had organized the event for participants to express their disapproval of French military influence in the country — including perceived French support for the Transitional Military Council (CMT) that has ruled the country since April 2021.
Biden’s Trip, and Ukraine’s War, Could Boost the Abraham Accords
President Biden’s Middle Eastern diplomatic mission this week contrasts with news reports and public discussion in the past year suggesting that the region has become a lesser priority for U.S. foreign and security policy. Biden’s visits to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian West Bank territory build on a reality that Middle Eastern states have been knitting new relations, notably via the 2020 Abraham Accords. They are doing so in ways that Biden’s visit, and overall U.S. diplomacy, can advance.
Colombia’s New Administration Raises Hopes for ‘Total Peace’
Hopes for lasting peace in Colombia are soaring. Last month, Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez prevailed in Colombia’s runoff presidential election and will lead the country’s first-ever progressive government, as president and vice president, respectively. Their historic victory culminates an electoral cycle marked by a resounding rejection of Colombia’s establishment elites. Petro’s proposals for what he has coined “Total Peace” offer an ambitious approach to negotiating with armed groups, implementing prior peace accords, and pursuing national unity amid debilitating socio-political polarization. The country stands before an undeniable opportunity to lay the foundation to end its six-decade conflict, even if subsequent governments will have to sustain these efforts to truly reap the long-term benefits.
The West Must Sustain Support for Ukraine Shown at Madrid
As the world’s democracies confront an authoritarian ruler’s military aggression, they have an institution with which to respond — a NATO that just demonstrated its readiness at Madrid — that Churchill might have wished for in June 1940.
In Sudan, a Narrow Opportunity to Get the Democratic Transition Back on Track
The surprise announcement by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the leader of Sudan’s coup government, that the military is willing to hand power back to civilians presents an opportunity to get the democratic transition back on track.