Pamela Aall

Provost, Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding

Pamela Aall is a senior vice president at the U.S. Institute of Peace and provost of USIP’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, the recently established education and training center for practitioners working in or on conflict.
 
Her research interests include mediation, non-official organizations, civil–military relations, education and training, and the role of education in exacerbating conflict or promoting reconciliation. She is past president of Women in International Security, an organization dedicated to promoting women’s professional advancement in the foreign affairs and security fields. She has also worked at the Rockefeller Foundation, the European Cultural Foundation, and the International Council for Educational Development.
 
Aall has co-authored and co-edited a number of books and articles, including the Guide to IGOs, NGOs and the Military in Peace and Relief Operations (2000). With Chester A. Crocker and Fen Osler Hampson, she has written and edited a series of books on international conflict management including Leashing the dogs of war: conflict management in a divided world (2007); Grasping the nettle: analyzing cases of intractable conflict (2005); Taming intractable conflicts: mediation in the hardest cases (2004); and Turbulent peace: the challenges of managing international conflict (2001). Their latest jointly edited volume is Rewiring regional security in a fragmented world (2011). They are also series editors for the Routledge Studies in Security and Conflict Management.

 

Publications:

 

 

Publications & Tools

December 2011 | News Feature by Thomas Omestad

Security experts gathered at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on Dec. 1 to address the question of who—amid rapid global change--has the responsibility, will and capacity to provide security in a variety of conflicts and problems around the world. The event marked the release of Rewiring Regional Security in a Fragmented World, a 20-chapter volume drawing on contributions from numerous security specialists.

USIP image
July 2011 | Book by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela Aall, editors

Rewiring Regional Security in a Fragmented World examines conflict management capacities and gaps regionally and globally, and assesses whether regions—through their regional organizations or through loose coalitions of states, regional bodies, and non-official actors—are able to address an array of new and emerging security threats.

March 2011 | News Feature by Thomas Omestad

U.S. Institute of Peace scholars, fellows and staff will attend this month’s International Studies Association (ISA) Convention in Montreal, reflecting USIP’s central role in this field. The convention runs from March 16-19, 2011.

January 2007 | Book by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hamson, Pamela Aall, editors

USIP released the latest volume in its ongoing series on contemporary conflict.Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a Divided World, edited by Chester A. CrockerFen Osler Hampson, and Pamela Aall is a follow up to their landmark 2001 work Turbulent Peace, which has become a leading classroom text in the study of conflict resolution. 

February 2005 | Book by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, Pamela Aall, editors

Among the unwelcome legacies of the past century are a group of conflicts, both intrastate and interstate, that seem destined never to end. Unyielding conflicts offer numerous insights—not only about the sources of intractability but also about such facets of mediation and conflict management as how to gain leverage, when to engage and disengage, how to balance competing goals, and who to enlist to play supporting roles

August 2004 | Book by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hamson, Pamela Aall

Written from the mediator's point of view, Taming Intractable Conflicts lays out the steps involved in tackling the most stubborn of conflicts. It first puts mediation in a larger context, exploring why mediators choose or decline to become involved, what happens when they get involved for the wrong reasons, and the impact of the mediator's institutional and political environment.

September 2001 | Book by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hamson and Pamela Aall

Please see the new, replacement volume: Leashing the Dogs of War
Like its predecessor, Managing Global Chaos, this comprehensive volume explores the sources of contemporary conflict and the vast array of possible responses to it. The authors—50 of the most influential and innovative analysts of international affairs—present multiple perspectives on how best to prevent, manage, or resolve conflicts around the world.

Passing the Baton - PW40 (Image: USIP)
May 2001 | Peaceworks by Richard H. Solomon, Samuel R. Berger, Patrick M. Cronin, Pamela Aall, Emily Metzgar, Kurt Bassuener, William Drennan, and Condoleezza Rice

This report summarizes discussions at a conference of leading officials and specialists on January 17, 2001.  The conference program was organized around five panel discussions covering two functional topics (organizing for national security and international conflict management) and three geographic regions of special concern to the United States (Russia, the Balkans, and Northeast Asia).

December 2000 | Book by Pamela Aall, Daniel Miltenberger and Thomas G. Weiss

Please see the newest replacement volume: Guide for Participants in Peace, Stability, and Relief Operations
Peace and relief operations are always tough assignments. But they can be tougher still when you find yourself working alongside people who seem to have very different outlooks, approaches, and priorities.

November 1999 | Book by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, Pamela Aall, editors

Not only will these cases illustrate how multiparty mediation works or does not work, but they should also stimulate further work on the special requirements and best practices of the field, promote a dialogue among practitioners themselves as well as between academics and practitioners, and lead to unique insights, new understandings, and alternative approaches that can be applied to future mediations.

September 1996 | Book by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hamson and Pamela Aall

Sources of and Responses to International Conflict

NGOs and Conflict Management - PW5 (Image: USIP)
February 1996 | Peaceworks by Pamela R. Aall

The staff of the Institute has gone through the voluminous proceedings of the September 1995, "Managing Chaos" conference to distill the views expressed by nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives and others on the emerging role of NGOs in managing international conflict.

Events

December 1, 2011

Regional and global security experts addressed questions on the links between the fields of security and conflict management and the balance between regional/local security initiatives and global ones. The discussion centered on the themes of USIP’s book, "Rewiring Regional Security in a Fragmented World", edited by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Olsen Hampson, and Pamela Aall.


April 15, 2010

The new Women in International Security (WIIS) "Progress Report on Women in Peace and Security Careers:  U.S. Executive Branch" is the first report to examine women's representation and career experiences in international security in the U.S. government sector.  A panel of USIP and WIIS experts will discuss the report's implications and the next steps to fulfilling its recommendations.


November 13, 2009

While conflict management professionals understand the contributions that women make in peacebuilding efforts, promoting this idea in conflict societies and effectively engaging women in a wide range of peacebuilding activities requires knowledge and awareness. This first Gender and Peacebuilding Seminar will explore the role women can play in peace negotiations.

June 17, 2002