Past Events

Critical to each other's foreign policy and security interests in the region, the United States and Iran have been locked in confrontation for over three decades, a period that has seen only limited contact and little mutual understanding. With a new administration in Washington and political uncertainty in the aftermath of the contested Iranian presidential elections in June, there is renewed debate in American policymaking circles about the nature, efficacy, and utility of negotiating with the Islamic Republic.

On 21 September, the United States Institute of Peace hosted a public event to help launch a new report from the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS), based at Concordia University, Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities. Video files of the event are now available on this page.

Two Iraqi members of parliament will discuss the future of the US-Iraqi relations and their assessment of the security agreement's implementation.

The Grant and Fellowship Program and the Afghanistan Working Group of the United States Institute of Peace cordially invites you to a discussion of a new USIP Peaceworks Report.

Kosovo, which declared its independence a year and a half ago, is now recognized by 62 other U.N. member states and aims eventually to join the European Union.  What progress is it making in this direction?

Three weeks after the August 20th national elections, the outcome of the election remains contested. Results posted by Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission show President Hamid Karzai at 54% and his main challenger Dr. Abdullah at 28% with 91.6% of polling stations tallied. But widespread allegations of fraud have marred the results,  with over 2000 complaints filed to the Afghan Elections Complaints Commission (ECC). Please join us for a discussion of these issues with experts just arrived from Afghanistan, all of whom have observed the Afghan political process up close for the last few years.
 

At least 3,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are operating in Haiti. Struggling with insufficient capacity in the face of overwhelming poverty and environmental disasters, the government has been unable to coordinate or capitalize on what some in Haiti refer to as a “Republic of NGOs."

Chad's internal political crisis has resulted in coups, the formation of armed groups, and a vicious cycle feuling the conflict in Darfur.  What obstacles and opportunities do the Chadian and diaspora civil society groups face in resolving the crisis?

Jehan Perera is executive director of the National Peace Council, an independent peace organization based in Colombo, and a regular analyst of Sri Lankan conflict and peace dynamics in online and print media.  Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu is executive director of the Center for Policy Alternatives, a think tank based in Colombo and dedicated to strengthening public input into governance and policy through research and analysis.  Our two guests will speak about the current political and social context in Sri Lanka and the pathways to a sustainable peace and reconciliation.

Last week, three Americans were detained in Iran after straying into the country from northern Iraq. Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal were arrested for "illegal entry" and were reportedly deemed CIA spies by the Iranian police. The U.S. government vehemently denied this claim.

Sheikh Dr. Khalid al-Atiya, first deputy speaker of the Council of Representatives of Iraq, spoke about these challenging issues and answered questions from the audience.

Since the signing of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) last year, which committed the U.S. to an unconditional withdrawal of U.S. on a three-year timeline, the withdrawal issue has receded from the American public debate about Iraq. President Obama has set his own timeline that fits comfortably within the SOFA. How much and how fast the U.S. leaves Iraq will nonetheless have a critical effect on U.S. strategic interests in the region. Some Iraqi leaders have publicly stated their openness to a post-2011 presence.

Dr. David Kilcullen and Dr. Andrew Wilder explore the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and the relationship between successful counter-insurgency operations and state-building efforts.

 Since the internal armed conflict in Guatemala ended in 1996, millions of dollars have been spent on transitional justice, but the state's efforts to create an effective justice system have largely failed -- obliging many Guatemalans to create their own coping mechanisms for war-time atrocities, and severely limiting the effectiveness of ongoing transitional justice efforts.