For Immediate Release, January 20, 2011
Contact: Allison Sturma
                202-429-4725
                asturma@usip.org

(Washington) – The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has released "Peace Terms: Glossary of Terms for Conflict Management and Peacebuilding," an extensive glossary that provides short definitions of a wide range of complex and often confusing terms.

"Peace Terms" grew out of the development of courses for the Institute's Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, the education and training arm of the Institute.

In developing this glossary, the Academy sought broad agreement on terminology, especially given the cross-disciplinary nature of the field, and the fact that many of the terms are contested in some way. A wide range of online and print sources, as well as the senior staff at USIP, were consulted in the process of producing the glossary.

"Peace Terms" is not intended to be the last word on this topic.  In fact, the accompanying Web site includes a comment function that solicits feedback from users, enabling USIP to start a conversation with practitioners in order to refine this compendium.

The editor of the glossary, Dan Snodderly, served as USIP’s director of publications from 1993 to 2004, and previously worked as an editor and writer at Cornell University Press and Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding offers practitioner-oriented courses; conducts conflict management workshops and training in conflict zones abroad; and makes many of its courses and other resources available online.

###
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) provides the analysis, training and tools that help to prevent, manage and end violent international conflicts, promote stability and professionalize the field of peacebuilding.