As a national, nonpartisan, independent Institute, the U.S. Institute of Peace draws on our exceptional convening power to create opportunities for diverse audiences to exchange knowledge, experiences, and ideas necessary for creative solutions to difficult challenges. We serve as an important, neutral platform for bringing together government and nongovernment, diplomacy, security, and development actors, and participants across political views. The Institute’s events help shape public policy and priorities to advance peaceful solutions to conflict and strengthen international security.
On April 2, USIP hosted a discussion with Ambassador David Hale on his new book and how past U.S. diplomatic engagement with Lebanon can offer valuable lessons for American diplomatic tradecraft in the Middle East and beyond.
Ahead of International Women’s Day and on the first day of Women’s History Month, USIP recognized and celebrated the awardee and finalists for the 2023 Women Building Peace Award. The conversation explored how these four fearless women from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya and Syria are making history while working for a peaceful future.
On February 6, USIP held an event marking the one-year anniversary of the earthquakes featuring individuals who experienced the disaster firsthand and were involved in the relief effort. The conversation examined lessons learned from the international response — with particular attention paid to comparing the responses in Turkey versus Northwest Syria to highlight the difficulties in delivering relief to the latter in a timely fashion.
On January 29, USIP and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide hosted a discussion on the current challenges facing the Yazidi community and possible ways to strengthen their ability to recover from genocide.
On December 12, USIP hosted a conversation with Tim Eaton on DDR in Libya. The discussion explored his report’s findings and the need to calibrate DDR efforts to local contexts in Libya — with the hope that a flexible program might be replicated in other locations and eventually expanded to the national level.
On December 11, USIP hosted a conversation with U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) exploring his views on the current Israel-Hamas war. The discussion examined the imperatives and considerations in navigating a war against a belligerent like Hamas without punishing the multitude of innocent civilians who are not complicit in Hamas’ terrorism.
On October 24, USIP hosted a conversation with U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking to unpack the FSO Safer operation. The discussion highlighted the innovative diplomacy approaches taken and shed light on how the operation could serve as a model for reinvigorated American soft power in the Middle East going forward.
Join USIP and the American University of Kurdistan for a discussion with the Kurdistan Regional Government Minister of Interior Rebar Ahmed on a wide range of issues pertaining to the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, including Erbil-Baghdad relations; economic reforms and the...
On April 11, USIP hosted Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) — chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism and a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs — for a conversation exploring his views on how U.S. policy toward Tunisia should adjust to new realities on the ground.
On February 22, USIP hosted a conversation with Amos Hochstein, U.S. special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security and the primary mediator of the Israel-Lebanon agreement. The discussion unpacked how the agreement came about, the lessons learned for American diplomacy, and the precedents it may set for broader Israeli-Lebanese relations as well as for conflicts across the Eastern Mediterranean.