Publications
Articles, publications, books, tools and multimedia features from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest news, analysis, research findings, practitioner guides and reports, all related to the conflict zones and issues that are at the center of the Institute’s work to prevent and reduce violent conflict.
How to Achieve Accountability for Atrocities in Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a remarkable alignment of international actors supporting accountability processes. The international community — states, regional bodies, civil society and the U.N. — has provided funding and expertise to the Ukrainian government and launched documentation and evidence collection efforts, fact-finding missions and criminal investigations into Russia’s invasion and the crimes committed against Ukrainian civilians. The progress made to date stands to advance the rights of Ukrainians and other vulnerable communities faced with aggressive state action. Moving forward, this united effort will require the coordination, creativity and sustained political will to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable, and that justice is delivered to victims.
El Salvador Needs Long-Term Solutions to End Cycles of Violence
The government of El Salvador reacted harshly to a recent spike in homicides by imposing a state of emergency and rounding up thousands of suspected gang members. Recent history suggests that law enforcement alone cannot solve the problem without comprehensive gang prevention, intervention and rehabilitation programs in marginalized communities. USIP’s Mary Speck discusses violence in El Salvador and how the country can reduce crime while still respecting human rights.
El Salvador necesita soluciones a largo plazo para poner fin a los ciclos de violencia
El gobierno de El Salvador reaccionó con dureza ante un reciente aumento en los homicidios al imponer un Estado de emergencia y detener a miles de presuntos pandilleros. La historia reciente sugiere que la aplicación de la ley por sí sola no puede resolver el problema sin tener programas integrales de prevención, intervención y rehabilitación de pandillas en comunidades marginadas. Mary Speck de USIP analiza la violencia en El Salvador y cómo el país puede reducir el crimen sin dejar de respetar los derechos humanos.
The Myanmar Army’s Criminal Alliance
In December 2021, at a grand ceremony in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw, the country’s military chief — and leader of last year’s coup — awarded the highest honors for “extraordinary contributions to the development of the state” to an internationally obscure entrepreneur named Liu Zhengxiang.
Colombia Police Reform: The Critical Need to Include Rural Forces
The Colombian government, seeking to reform its National Police in a time of security challenges and mass protests, has focused on big-city units that sit in the national spotlight. While the reform efforts are generally praiseworthy, the emphasis on urban areas creates the risk of losing sight of the country’s rural regions — places where guerrillas and other armed actors hold sway, and the fate of peace efforts will ultimately be determined. The resolve and capacity of rural police and courts to meet the needs of citizens in these zones will be critical to achieving meaningful and lasting peace.
To Consolidate Democracy, Change U.S. Security Assistance
As the United States pursues its initiative to bolster democratic rule and human rights after last week’s Summit for Democracy, a priority should be to diagnose and repair the flaws in U.S. and allied approaches to helping vulnerable nations strengthen their security. Our existing pattern of security sector assistance focuses largely on training and equipping such nations’ forces, and it emphasizes the security of governments and institutions, rather than of the people they are meant to serve. This type of assistance prioritizes short-term tactical gains to the detriment of long-term U.S. strategic goals—and it should be reformed.
A Global Democratic Renaissance or a More Volatile World?
With a staggering array of immediate crises facing the world — from the COVID pandemic to a global increase in extremist violence — it sometimes feels difficult, perhaps even impossible, to look beyond the current moment and envision what the world will look in the coming decades. However, looming demographic, economic, environmental and technological shifts are already starting to affect the global geopolitical environment — not only worsening our current crises, but inciting new ones should we fail to put in place long-term strategies to address them.
How Missing Data Can Make the Global Fragility Strategy Work
As glaring inequalities in the global recovery from COVID-19 become clearer, the U.N. has warned of growing risks of political tensions and conflict in many countries. This poses a daunting challenge to U.S. foreign policy and presents a test for the new Global Fragility Strategy (GFS), which aims to reduce state fragility and break cycles of violence in critical regions. What the GFS lacks, however, is a clear “theory of success” that explains why and how proposed actions will lead to desired outcomes in fragile states. A new capacity-based approach is needed to identify fragile states with high potential for effective engagement, particularly security sector reform (SSR).
Extending Constitutional Rights to Pakistan’s Tribal Areas
When Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas were officially merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in May 2018, the five million residents of the former tribal areas acquired the same constitutional rights and protections—including access to a formal judicial system—as Pakistan’s other citizens. This report, based on field research carried out by the authors, explores the status of the formal justice system’s expansion, finding both positive trends and severe administrative and capacity challenges, and offers recommendations to address these issues.
“No Going Backward”: Afghanistan’s Post–Peace Accord Security Sector
Failure to plan realistically for needed changes in Afghanistan’s security sector following a peace settlement—and failure to start phasing in changes now—will lead to post-settlement instability. This report examines the particular challenges Afghanistan will face, with examples from the climate following peace settlements in other parts of the world offering insight into what may occur and possibilities for response.