Reflecting on 9/11: It’s Time for a Policy of Prevention

Reflecting on 9/11: It’s Time for a Policy of Prevention

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

By: Nancy Lindborg

Like most Americans, I know exactly where I was on 9/11: in a meeting just blocks away from the White House, where I was slipped a note that didn’t make any sense. We continued the meeting until the second note confirmed we were facing an enormous tragedy. Today, many millions of us will be reflecting on this somber anniversary and the difficult ground we have traveled since. We have learned many hard lessons in the last 18 years, and the question is whether we are ready to act on those lessons by moving beyond reacting to violent extremism and instead investing in prevention.

Type: Blog

Fragility & ResilienceViolent Extremism

Here’s What Afghan Women Have to Say About Peace and Extremism

Here’s What Afghan Women Have to Say About Peace and Extremism

Thursday, September 5, 2019

By: Marjan Nahavandi

It’s been nearly a year since U.S.-Taliban talks renewed hope that a broader Afghan peace process could set the country on the path to end its decades of conflict. Now, as the U.S. and Taliban are potentially on the cusp of a deal, the stakes for Afghan women are particularly high. Often treated as a monolith, a forthcoming USIP-commissioned study found a diverse range of views on the ongoing peace process, peacebuilding at the local level, extremism, and the barriers women face. Their views and experiences differ greatly—that’s why a diverse array must be represented in intra-Afghan talks.

Type: Blog

Gender

Building Peace in Afghanistan from the Bottom-up

Building Peace in Afghanistan from the Bottom-up

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

By: Ahmad Jawed Samsor;  Muhammad Idrees

A peace deal between the U.S. and Taliban is reportedly imminent. That deal would pave the way for intra-Afghan talks aimed at setting the course for the country’s political future. After the 18-year U.S. war and decades of conflict prior, Afghans overwhelmingly want an end to the violence that plagues their country every day. While this official diplomacy is an important first step, there is also much to be done at the grassroots level to build peace in Afghanistan.

Type: Blog

Education & TrainingYouth

Toni Morrison and The Brilliant Art of Peace

Toni Morrison and The Brilliant Art of Peace

Monday, August 12, 2019

By: Abiodun Williams

I had the good fortune to meet Toni Morrison at the United Nations in June 2002. She delivered the inaugural lecture in a series of public lectures established by fellow Nobel laureate Kofi Annan, then secretary-general of the United Nations. Annan established the lectures to bring different perspectives to the U.N. and to strengthen the sense of community among U.N. staff and diplomats of member states.

Type: Blog

Monitoring Cease-fires is Getting Harder: Greater Innovation is Required

Monitoring Cease-fires is Getting Harder: Greater Innovation is Required

Thursday, August 8, 2019

By: Aly Verjee

Far from helping resolve conflict, flawed cease-fires and cease-fire monitoring may well contribute to significantly increased mistrust between the parties to that conflict. The consequences may be even more damaging; as cease-fires are often one of the first objectives a mediator attempts to achieve, in the eyes of the combatants, early failure may more broadly damage the viability, or the perception of viability, of external action to effectively resolve the conflict.

Type: Blog

Conflict Analysis & PreventionPeace Processes

Tunisia, Stable Under Essebsi, Now Must Recruit Youth

Tunisia, Stable Under Essebsi, Now Must Recruit Youth

Monday, July 29, 2019

By: James Rupert

Tunisia, the single democracy to emerge from the Middle East’s 2011 political revolts, suddenly must choose a new leader following the death of 92-year-old President Beji Caid Essebsi. Essebsi was the country’s first freely elected president and helped lead its transition away from decades of authoritarian rule. His death accelerates a test for this young democracy—its first political succession under its 2014 constitution.

Type: Blog

Youth

People Power Can Boost the Afghan Peace Process

People Power Can Boost the Afghan Peace Process

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

By: Maria J. Stephan

I recently visited Afghanistan for the first time since serving at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul from 2009-2011. When I was last there, the fighting was intense and peace seemed far off. My days were spent working long hours at the embassy, and my nights were spent working on a book about violent and nonviolent resistance, a project which changed my life. Today, talks between the Taliban and the U.S.—and recently between the Taliban and Afghan leaders—have renewed hope for peace after decades of conflict. What role can civil resistance play amid the steady stream of violence in Afghanistan?

Type: Blog

Nonviolent Action

Venezuelan Youth Lead Nonviolent Campaigns for Change

Venezuelan Youth Lead Nonviolent Campaigns for Change

Thursday, July 18, 2019

By: Aubrey Cox;  Nilaya Knafo

As the Americas’ biggest political and refugee crisis has mushroomed, Venezuela’s massive youth population faces an agonizing choice: to endure the conflict and the privations of a collapsed economy, or to seek economic survival and a better life abroad. With a recent surge of people fleeing the country, more than 4 million Venezuelans now are refugees, the United Nations reported last month. Still, a strong core of youth—nonviolent protest leaders, humanitarian workers and grassroots organizers—is working on peaceful ways to restore stability and democracy.

Type: Blog

Youth

Pakistan’s Participation Puzzle: A Look at the Voting Gender Gap

Pakistan’s Participation Puzzle: A Look at the Voting Gender Gap

Thursday, July 18, 2019

By: Ali Cheema;  Sarah Khan;  Shandana Khan Mohmand;  Anam Kuraishi;  Asad Liaqat

The Global Gender Gap Index ranked Pakistan in 2016 as the second lowest country in the world for gender equality. Women’s political participation is recognized as an essential component of gender equality and in Pakistan the gender gap in participation is particularly high. Ensuring gender equality in political participation matters: A recent survey conducted by these authors finds that, at least in some public policy domains in Pakistan’s big cities, the issues that matter to women are different from the issues that matter to men. This demonstrates that greater gender equality in electoral participation could substantively change what issues are represented in the political arena.

Type: Blog

Democracy & Governance