How Kenya’s Women Are Preventing Extremism and Violence

How Kenya’s Women Are Preventing Extremism and Violence

Thursday, March 5, 2020

By: Nicoletta Barbera

A group of women gathered recently in Kiambu, an overcrowded Kenyan town, to build their local response to a national problem: recruitment, especially of young men, by extremist groups such as al-Shabab. Kiambu’s women form one of several groups nationwide that are launching local dialogues—typically among community members and authorities—to build well-rooted efforts to counter extremist influence. These groups are part of a network called Sisters Without Borders, which has risen from Kenya’s grassroots over the past five years. On the upcoming International Women’s Day, the story of Kenya’s sisters is worth noting as a success for women building peace and confronting terrorism in their homelands.

Type: Blog

GenderViolent Extremism

Discovering Peace Through Art in Afghanistan

Discovering Peace Through Art in Afghanistan

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

By: Anthony Navone

“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

Type: Blog

Peace Processes

The Latest on U.S.-Taliban Talks: 3 Things You Need to Know

The Latest on U.S.-Taliban Talks: 3 Things You Need to Know

Thursday, February 20, 2020

By: Belquis Ahmadi;  Barmak Pazhwak;  Scott Smith

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.

Type: Blog

Peace Processes

The Urgency and Complexity of Environmental Peacebuilding

The Urgency and Complexity of Environmental Peacebuilding

Thursday, February 13, 2020

By: Jeremy Moore

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.

Type: Blog

EnvironmentEconomics

Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding: Contradictory or Complementary?

Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding: Contradictory or Complementary?

Monday, January 27, 2020

By: Maria J. Stephan ;  Jonathan Pinckney, Ph.D.

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.

Type: Blog

Nonviolent Action

How Interactive Conflict Resolution Empowers Youth in China and Taiwan

How Interactive Conflict Resolution Empowers Youth in China and Taiwan

Friday, January 24, 2020

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...

Type: Blog

Mediation, Negotiation & DialogueYouth

What ‘The Afghanistan Papers’ Got Wrong

What ‘The Afghanistan Papers’ Got Wrong

Thursday, December 19, 2019

By: Scott Smith

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.

Type: Blog

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

The Latest on the Afghan Peace Process: 3 Things You Need to Know

The Latest on the Afghan Peace Process: 3 Things You Need to Know

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

By: Johnny Walsh

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.

Type: Blog

Peace Processes

Invaluable, Yet Too Often Invisible: Time to Recognize Women Building Peace

Invaluable, Yet Too Often Invisible: Time to Recognize Women Building Peace

Thursday, December 12, 2019

By: Nancy Lindborg

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.

Type: Blog

Gender