Past Events

On June 12, Iran held an historic, and as it has turned out, highly contentious presidential election.  While the government  declared incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the decisive winner, his challengers--led by Mir Hossein Mousavi--have accused the regime of massive voter fraud, thus setting up a unprecedented conflict between a regime and major segments of society. These developments come on the heels of efforts by the Obama administration to engage Iran.  USIP hosted a fascinating discussion of the implications of Iran's presidential election for  the country's domestic politics, and even more so, for the course (and fate) of  U.S.-Iranian engagement.

Vice President Biden warned politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina that failure to adhere to the "only real path" ahead could bring a descent into "ethnic chaos." Yet the threat of violence for Bosnia and the corresponding actions that the leaders of Bosnia, the US, and the EU should take are hotly contested.

The Office of the US Special Envoy to Sudan will convene a conference involving more than twenty countries and organizations, as well as the two signatories to Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), on June 23rd. The conference will focus on reaffirming international commitments to the CPA and charting the course ahead concerning the international community's support for CPA implementation. Following the conference, on June 24th USIP will host a panel discussion to share outcomes. The panel will feature the US Special Envoy to Sudan, General Scott Gration, and representatives from the NCP and SPLM delegations.

From his first day in office, President Barack Obama has made Arab-Israeli peacemaking a top foreign policy priority. In recent weeks, he has consulted with a wide range of leaders from the region, including Israel’s new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu

Drawing on his newly published USIP volume, Conspiracy of Silence: The Insurgency in Southern Thailand, Zachary Abuza and panelists will discuss an overlooked and brewing insurgency in southern Thailand and will address its impact on Thailand, Southeast Asia, and the global war on terror.

In 2007, the Los Angeles Times reported that Iraq's interior ministry (MOI) had become a "federation of oligarchs" where various floors were controlled by rival militias and power struggles were resolved by assassinations in the parking lot. Today, the MOI is responsible for nearly 500,000 members of Iraq's security forces, but still struggles despite major US and UK efforts.

On behalf of Ambassador Richard Solomon, Chair of the Korea Working Group, the U.S. Institute of Peace convenes a USIP-Nixon Center public event on two new USIP Working Papers.

This panel discussion presented findings from an unprecedented comprehensive mapping of the Arabic-language blogosphere, and explored its implications for political change and conflict in the Middle East.

As the Obama administration seeks to re-engage Russia on military, economic and human rights issues, the United States Institute of Peace announces the release of Human Rights, Perestroika, and the End of the Cold War (USIP Press, July 2009). This diplomatic memoir, co-authored by a Soviet and an American diplomat, explores their unlikely partnership and role in the transformation of Soviet-American relations.

On June 7^th, Lebanon held its long-anticipated parliamentary elections, a critical next step in Lebanon's post-civil war transition. While many observers underscore the potential repercussions of a Hezbollah-dominated March 8^th bloc win, the margin of victory will be slim regardless of which side wins.

At least 2.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have now been registered from recent fighting in Swat, Buner and Dir areas. This is in addition to another 553,000 people registered as displaced in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), bringing the total number of displaced to 2.9 million since August 2008.

On behalf of Ambassador Richard Solomon, Chair of the Korea Working Group, the U.S. Institute of Peace cordially invites you to a joint CSIS-KEI-USIP public event

The coming year in Iraq will be critical. US forces are set to withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of June, national elections are set for January 2010, and the potential for a decline in the security situation-recently showing signs of backsliding-remains high. A number of crucial questions remain to be resolved: Will Iraqi politics continue to move in a cross-sectarian, interests-based direction as we saw in the provincial elections, or will sectarian identity return as the primary organizing political principle? Is there any prospect for the Kurds and the central government to reach common ground on disputed territories and oil? Will ex-Ba'thists be meaningfully integrated into the political process and government institutions? Will large-scale U.S. troop withdrawal slated to begin early next year result in renewed violence?