Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Dispatch from Libya
USIP’s Robert Perito, director of the security sector governance center, files this dispatch from Libya.
Lizards, Geckos, and Training for Peacebuilding
Training for most militaries around the world requires good instruction, lots of practice, and a large amount of remote territory. The 4th battalion of the Tanzanian military was no exception. Jeff Helsing and Alison Milofsky of USIP’s Academy provide an account of their recent ACOTA program training in Tanzania.
A New and Optimistic Libya, Struggling to its Feet
The moment I learned the gun battle erupted down the street from my hotel, my mind started racing with the implications it could have on Libya’s tentative steps toward democracy.
From Peaceful Schools to Peaceful Communities in Pakistan
Pakistan's southern city of Karachi is increasingly rife with ethnic and sectarian violence. Endemic violence affects youth in particular, as they learn to use hostile action as the principal way to resolve conflict. Education plays a primary role in the attitudinal development of youth, but Karachi schools have yet to teach Pakistani youth how to effectively handle and mitigate local conflict.
Training in the Bush
A ground-level view of the training provided to Tanzanian troops to help them tackle the important but difficult tasks of peacekeeping in Darfur and perhaps elsewhere.
Experiences from Libya: How Unresolved Trauma Issues Affect the Rule of Law
USIP's Vivienne O'Connor discusses the intersection of post traumatic stress disorder and its effect on Libyans emerging from conflict based on a recent trip there.
What Kabul's Chic Homes Say About Corruption and Governance
USIP's Tim Lucarro writes from USIP's field office in Kabul about what some of the city's big homes say about corruption in Afghanistan.
Dispatch from Baghdad: The Arab Summit
USIP staffer Sarhang Hamasaeed on March 27 provided the following update on the Arab Summit underway in Baghdad, Iraq.
The Barbed Wire Metric
In Tunisia, it is said, the unpopularity of particular ministries can be measured by the amount of barbed wire around their buildings. When I visited Tunis with my USIP colleagues, Bob Perito and Dan Brumberg, a year after the fall of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) was still surrounded by concertina wire a few layers deep—more to protect those inside than to barricade the ministry.
New Media and Old: Using Social Media and Radio to Build Peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan
USIP’s Theo Dolan and Michael Dwyer recently returned from Afghanistan and Pakistan, where they are looking at ways to harness the power of social media to prevent or reduce violence and how to use a new radio program to educate rural Afghans on “rule of law” concepts in attempt to strengthen security in those areas. Dolan is senior program officer for USIP’s Center of Innovation for Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding. Dwyer is a senior program officer for the COI.