Thursday, August 6, 2020
Discovering Peace Through Art in Afghanistan
“I don’t know peace. I grew up in war. Peace for us in Afghanistan … we really don’t know what this word ‘peace’ means.” –Omaid Sharifi, cofounder of the Kabul-based ArtLords
The Latest on U.S.-Taliban Talks: 3 Things You Need to Know
The U.S. and Taliban have reportedly agreed to a deal to reduce violence, which could ultimately lead to an end to the war in Afghanistan. USIP’s Afghanistan experts explain how the deal could be an important step to sustainable peace, what subsequent intra-Afghan negotiations would focus on and what the agreement means for Afghan women.
The Urgency and Complexity of Environmental Peacebuilding
Daily news headlines sometimes note, but often omit, the rise in violent conflicts linked to environmental shocks from our changing climate. People in parts of Central Asia have fought in recent years over water, and Nigerian farmers and cattle herders fight over shrinking grasslands in an episodic war that now kills more people than the violence of Boko Haram. This nexus recently led specialists on both problems—conflict resolution and climate shocks—to forge a new alliance for environmental peacebuilding. The need for such work is signaled in part by the rising violence against environmental activists, of whom 164 were killed in 2018 alone.
The Latest on the Middle East Peace Plan: 3 Things You Need to Know
The Trump administration unveiled this week its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. Does the plan have the potential to bring the parties closer to peace? Lucy Kurzter-Ellenbogen explains how the plan differs from other attempts to forge peace, how Israelis and Palestinians view the plan, and how the international community has reacted.
Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding: Contradictory or Complementary?
Since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day last week, the nonviolent action team here at USIP has been reflecting on what Dr. King’s life and legacy teach us about the deep links between nonviolent action and peacebuilding. As we watch protesters in Hong Kong, Iraq, or Lebanon directly confront their governments, there may not seem to be much connection between people hitting the streets and building lasting peace. But for King, the connection was inevitable and inseparable, and practitioners of both disciplines have much to offer one another.
How Interactive Conflict Resolution Empowers Youth in China and Taiwan
While the international community has been closely watching the violent showdown between police and protesters in Hong Kong, many are concerned that the next crisis involving China could happen with Taiwan, a longstanding partner of the United States and a beacon of democratic values in East Asia. Beijing's increasingly aggressive policy toward Taiwan, a hardening of identities on both sides of the Strait, and President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent reelection in Taipei reflect two seemingly irreconcilable core interests...
What ‘The Afghanistan Papers’ Got Wrong
The Washington Post last week published a series, “The Afghanistan Papers,” that made the case that U.S. officials consistently lied about the prospects for success in Afghanistan and deliberately misled the public. As someone with an intimate knowledge of the effort described in the reporting, there is a recurring line I find particularly problematic: that officials hid “unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.” That was not the problem. The problem was that for so long many officials believed that the war was winnable.
The Latest on the Afghan Peace Process: 3 Things You Need to Know
Three months ago, President Trump pulled out of peace talks between the United States and the Afghan Taliban. But, this month those talks restarted and there’s again great hope in Afghanistan that peace might be possible. Johnny Walsh explains why the talks restarted, what issues must be negotiated, and what comes next.
Invaluable, Yet Too Often Invisible: Time to Recognize Women Building Peace
On a recent visit to Colombia, I visited a deeply moving space for reconciliation, Fragmentos, where the guns of the FARC have been hammered into a beautiful rippling floor by many of the women who suffered terribly during the conflict. It was a powerful reminder that though women often bear the greatest burden during times of war, they are also often leaders on the path to peace. In my three decades of doing this work, I’ve repeatedly been humbled by the women I’ve met who have risked their lives and found creative ways to build peace—from women forming neighborhood councils in Syria and Iraqi women securing their legal rights through relentless efforts, to grandmothers riding around on motorbikes to intervene in local disputes in Kenya.
As Venezuela’s Crisis Drags On, a Champion for Peace is Lost
Venezuela is in the midst of the greatest political, economic and humanitarian crisis that the Western Hemisphere has experienced in its modern history, with over 4.5 million migrants and refugees flooding the region. Norwegian-brokered talks between the opposition-led interim government of Juan Guaidó and the regime of Nicolas Maduro have been suspended for the last four months and it remains unclear as to how and under which conditions they might resume. An uneasy stalemate has ensued as all sides try to reconfigure the internal and regional political landscapes to their advantage while social protests in neighboring countries, including most recently in Colombia, have led to an alarming increase in xenophobia against migrants and refugees.