Andrew Wilder

USIP’s Andrew Wilder and Moeed Yusuf and other experts say broad support for the prime minister, combined with local wins by key opponents, might generate the right combination to force tough decisions that could move Pakistan forward.

A U.S. official outlined the tests the Afghan government faces in cementing the first democratic change of top leadership in the country’s history, as one of Afghanistan’s most prominent civic activists described a “vibrant and active political environment” that just might help pull it off.

From the idea of an interfaith center in Baghdad to prospective programs encouraging Burmese media to contribute to peace, USIP experts discuss conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts in 2012 and plans for this new year in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Burma, the two Sudans and more.

A high-ranking Syrian general's reasoning for his defection reinforces the dilemmas that will face the country in the aftermath of the conflict.

Credible presidential elections in Afghanistan in 2014 will help determine the willingness of foreign donors to continue providing a range of financial support for the country after NATO troops leave, a U.S. official said at a U.S. Institute of Peace event exploring “Elections, Reconciliation and the Final Two Years of Afghanistan’s Transition: Perspectives from the International Community.”

The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and the non-profit Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) on September 27 held the first meeting in their “Congressional Briefing Series--Topics on International Conflict Resolution and Prevention.”

USIP’s top program staff visited the Institute’s Kabul office in early May to meet with key leaders and discuss the transition in Afghanistan in 2014, a week before the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago May 20-21. USIP’s Shahmahmood Miakhel, country director in Kabul, Andrew Wilder, director of Afghanistan and Pakistan programs and Scott Smith, deputy director of Afghanistan programs, met with Maj. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the deputy chief of staff for operations for ISAF in Afghanistan. The group discussed the myriad issues that Afghanistan, ISAF and the international community face as the 2014 transition looms

Minister Masoom Stanekzai, the head of the Secretariat for Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, was joined by other members of the council as well as Afghanistan expert Dr. Barnett Rubin, serving as a senior adviser to the U.S. State Department’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Stenekzai was a former fellow at USIP.

Pakistanis who live along the country’s western border care far less about national security issues and extremism within their borders than many American experts and policymakers think, according to new poll data that hints at what may contribute to the complex relationship between the two countries. Taken broadly, the data show a disconnect between the U.S. and Pakistan over how each country views issues that are central to politics and policy in both countries.

A Q&A with USIP's Andrew Wilder on Afghanistan, reconciliation and moving past recent challenges.

The importance of USIP’s convening authority and its unique expertise in religion, peacebuilding, Afghanistan, and conflict management  training was evident in a closed-door session between leading religious leaders, scholars, practitioners and representatives from the U.S. government on Monday, March 5, 2012.

USIP experts provide a quick analysis on Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's announcement about the U.S. ending the combat mission earlier than expected.

Afghanistan has benefited from some “amazing” social and economic advances in recent years, but “at the same time, there is a very worrying fragility” as military forces and aid from the United States and other countries wind down, J. Alexander Thier, director of the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), told an audience at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on November 17.

President Barack Obama announced he would bring home 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer, thus ending the surge he announced at West Point in 2009.

USIP’s Andrew Wilder previews the president’s speech and how it is likely to play out in Afghanistan.

The July deadline for the beginning of a drawdown of American troops from Afghanistan is looming, and the debate in Washington is increasingly focused now on how reconciliation and reintegration efforts will affect the long-term peace process. Experts from Capitol Hill, Kabul and Washington think tanks gathered at USIP on June 13 to discuss how to build a “durable peace” in Afghanistan.

While the response to the death of Osama bin Laden in the United States was largely euphoric, in Afghanistan, arguably the country most impacted by bin Laden and al-Qaida, the response has been one of concern and caution. In order to parse this response, USIP reached out to a number of our Afghan partners and friends for their response to events of May 1.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai inaugurated a new parliament yesterday ending a political deadlock. USIP’s Director of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Andrew Wilder, assess the meaning of this move.