On December 5, to mark the Fifth Annual Arab-American Day, the League of Arab States and the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted a discussion with Arab women leaders, academics and policymakers, including the newly-elected Minnesota House Representative and Somali American, Ilhan Omar, on how education and economic opportunities can engage women and men in supporting women’s voices, equality and success.

Environment;  Education & Training;  Gender;  Fragility & Resilience;  Economics

China last year promised $46 billion to build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)—its strategic trade route to the Indian Ocean. China and Pakistan hope the project’s roads, rails and pipelines will help stabilize Pakistan and the broader region, but some Pakistanis also say it risks feeding corruption and upheaval. The U.S. Institute of Peace convened a group of experts on December 1 to examine this landmark project and its implications for South Asia.

Environment;  Economics

U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq have used a new tool in the past decade—millions of dollars spent by battlefield commanders for local relief and reconstruction projects. These projects have drawn criticism for gaps in financial accountability, but a new study from the RAND Corporation suggests they improved local security and led to reductions in hostilities. On October 13, the report’s authors, along with other experts, discussed their findings on the role in Afghanistan of the Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP)—and on ways that such programs can be improved.

Environment;  Economics

Due to pressing domestic issues, Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar cancelled his trip to the United States and unfortunately this event was cancelled.

Environment;  Economics

Groups such as Afghanistan-based ArtLords and Awareness and Prevention Through Art, which works in the Middle East, are converting blast walls and blighted buildings into murals and other works that prompt discussions in their communities about how to reduce the injustices, social exclusion and other drivers of violent conflict. On July 28, practitioners convened at USIP to discuss how peace advocates can use street art to help build peace.

Conflict Analysis & Prevention;  Violent Extremism;  Environment;  Nonviolent Action;  Economics

The April 2015 earthquake in Nepal killed almost 9,000 people and posed serious challenges to the country’s still-tenuous recovery from years of civil war amid an ambitious renegotiation of its constitution. On the first anniversary of the disaster, the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa for a discussion of the earthquake’s aftermath, the nation’s political transition and ways forward.

Justice, Security & Rule of Law;  Environment;  Economics

The Woodrow Wilson Center, the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Kurdistan Regional Government Representation in the United States hosted a discussion with Qubad Talabani, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) at the Woodrow Wilson Center, on April 14, 2016.

Conflict Analysis & Prevention;  Violent Extremism;  Environment;  Economics

How does the U.S. government now define its partnership with Nigeria, and what may arise next in that relationship? The two governments have long maintained a broad “strategic dialogue” on issues from energy to food security to transparency in governance. On March 28, two days before the main annual meeting in that dialogue, Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke on the evolution of the U.S.-Nigerian partnership.

Conflict Analysis & Prevention;  Violent Extremism;  Environment;  Gender;  Justice, Security & Rule of Law;  Economics