videos

What specific and unique contributions do women make throughout the security sector? How can military, police, and policy communities can enable their participation? How can troops not only protect women from sexual and other violence, but acknowledge and engage them as critical resources to fulfilling mission mandates? This panel discusses these questions as well as potential human rights-based arguments to convince local partners of the importance of including a gender lens to security efforts.

A frank discussion of the conflict between the Iranian regime and opposition and its implications for the Obama administration.

A panel of experts consider the goals and objectives of health programs in Afghanistan, what expectations can be for health programs in achieving those goals, and the roles of civilian agencies and the military in carrying out health programs. The panelists address current controversies about health programs in areas of armed conflict, including the military’s role in health programs for civilian populations as well as the role of USAID in supporting military objectives.

A panel of experts discuss how programs and policies addressing gender-based violence must take into account male gender issues.  Their expertise draws upon significant field work experience in both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They consider the practitioner challenges toward understanding and engaging men and boys in finding sustainable solutions to gender-based violence in zones of conflict.

The enormous human and financial costs of current conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, and elsewhere have prompted renewed attention to our ability to prevent conflicts from becoming violent. USIP brought together leading thinkers on the concepts, tools and strategies for preventing wars instead of fighting them.

Peter Weinberger discusses his Academy course "Cultural Adaptability in Complex Operations." Participants learn about and practice differences in high and low context communication styles, individual versus collective organization, power distance, and temporal orientation.

Former senior program officer A. Heather Coyne shares how her experience with the Army Reserves and USIP shaped her peacebuilding pursuits.

With national elections just around the corner on March 7, Iraq once again finds itself at a critical crossroads in determining what sort of society it wants and the extent to which truly representative politics will be central to that concept. Ambassador Christopher Hill offers his remarks.

Nadia Gerspacher discusses her Academy course "Strengthening Capacity by Training, Mentoring, Advising." The course teaches professionals interested in strengthening the capacity the ins and outs of the transfer of knowledge including adult learning principles, building a rapport, developing conflict sensitivity, assessing local capacity, local ownership, sustainability, project management, training needs analysis, curriculum design.

Matthew Levinger discusses his Academy course "Conflict Prevention: West Africa." Designed for professionals working in conflict zones, the course is intended for all public- and private-sector professionals whose work is adversely affected by civil wars, state collapse, or other large-scale conflicts.