Observe the International Day of Peace with a visit to the headquarters of the United States Institute of Peace! Located at the northwest corner of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., USIP’s headquarters serves as a destination for the American public to learn about peacebuilding approaches and as a symbol of the United States’ commitment to global peace.

USIP headquarters

Each year, USIP asks people to advocate for peace as a real alternative to violent conflict by taking the Peace Day Challenge on September 21, the International Day of Peace. This year, USIP challenged you to explore your own understanding of peace and conflict, take action for peace and connect with a global network of peacebuilders using #PeaceDayChallenge.

On Thursday, September 21, 2023, USIP held a Peace Day Expo to share its wide-ranging work. Visitors to its headquarters had the opportunity to speak with Institute experts and learn more about how conflict can be prevented, managed and resolved.

Latest Publications

North Korea’s Satellite Launch Adds a Spark to Already Simmering Tensions

North Korea’s Satellite Launch Adds a Spark to Already Simmering Tensions

Monday, November 27, 2023

By: Frank Aum

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are simmering again as a result of North Korea’s launch of a military reconnaissance satellite, which prompted South Korea to lift restrictions on reconnaissance activities imposed by the 2018 inter-Korean Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA). The satellite, which was launched on November 21, utilized ballistic missile technology in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Biden administration, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the G7 foreign ministers swiftly condemned the launch.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

With Milei’s Election, Argentina Heads into Uncharted Territory

With Milei’s Election, Argentina Heads into Uncharted Territory

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

By: Richard M. Sanders

In the 1976 Academy Award-winning film “Network,” a disgruntled television personality convinces his audience to shout “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” Javier Milei, now president-elect of Argentina, has convinced his country’s voters to do the same thing, only at the ballot box, rather than in the studio. The good news for Milei is that he has won the election. The bad news for him is that he now has to govern and make good his pledge to replace Argentina’s “model of decadence” — this in a nation, which, with ups and downs, has been in long-term decline for almost a century.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Democracy & Governance

Civil War Pushes Sudan to the Brink of Humanitarian Disaster

Civil War Pushes Sudan to the Brink of Humanitarian Disaster

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

By: Ashish Kumar Sen

Away from the headlines dominated by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, a civil war between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is pushing the country to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. As an allegedly genocidal RSF gains the upper hand, a U.N. official has warned that Sudan is “facing a convergence of a worsening humanitarian calamity and a catastrophic human rights crisis.”

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Conflict Analysis & PreventionHuman Rights

The U.S. Needs All the Friends It Can Get

The U.S. Needs All the Friends It Can Get

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

By: A. Wess Mitchell, Ph.D.

The United States needs as many friends as it can get in the intensifying struggle with China, Russia and Iran. But to build large and effective coalitions, it will need to be flexible. At the global level, where competition encompasses security, technology and commerce, it makes sense to appeal to universal principles rooted in the Western traditions of individual liberty and representative government. But at the regional level, especially in those places where most of the United States’ natural partners are not democracies, we will need to be pragmatic and appeal to the shared interests of preserving the independence and sovereignty of individual states against revisionist encroachments.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

Ahead of Election, Bangladesh’s Political Turmoil Spills into the Streets

Ahead of Election, Bangladesh’s Political Turmoil Spills into the Streets

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

By: Geoffrey Macdonald, Ph.D.

With Bangladesh’s parliamentary elections set for early January, the opposition’s push for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the installation of an interim election-time government has reached its crescendo — sending the country’s streets and politics into tumult in the process. With no sign of political compromise in sight, Bangladesh’s January elections will likely do little to repair its deep political divisions.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Democracy & Governance

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