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.
As Yemen’s multi-sided conflict grabs headlines with its devastating human toll, local activists continue to press for peace and democracy. Tawakkol Karman, a winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize who is known as “The Mother of the Revolution” in Yemen for her impact as a journalist and women’s rights advocate, offered insights, reflections, and hope from her on-the-ground experience.
Georgian Defense Minister Tinatin Khidasheli, in Washington to meet with top U.S. officials, made her remarks at USIP August 19. She discussed how her country is navigating regional security threats that have deepened in the 18 months since Russia attacked Ukraine.
On August 18th, USIP held a Twitter discussion with the Times’ lead reporter on the series, Ian Urbina, about impunity at sea and the connected issues of justice, international security, and human rights.
Campaigners for humane treatment of prisoners, from the ACLU and other groups, joined Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Luis Arreaga in examining the new “Mandela Rules,” named for former South African President Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years imprisoned under harsh conditions.
USIP experts convened on June 16 to discuss that question, offer updates from a just-concluded visit to Afghanistan, and explore how to help Afghans seize what may be missed opportunities to stabilize their country.
As lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) communities campaign for constitutional rights across the world, USIP gathered the United States’ new special envoy on the issue, along with international LGBTI activists, to discuss the movement and its future. Ambassador Randy Berry joined campaigners from South Africa, Ireland, Fiji, and Grenada in the May 26th forum, which was co-hosted by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).
Around the globe, the struggle between civil society voices and government repression is giving rise to violence, extremism and toxic politics. Professionals in peacebuilding and in governance/democracy recognize the need to work together on issues of governance, legitimacy, fragility and disenfranchisement that underlie many violent conflicts.
The U.S. Institute of Peace hosted a May 4 Twitter chat with scholars and Libyan activists on the state of security and justice in Libya.
The U.S. Institute of Peace and the University of South Carolina Rule of Law Collaborative hosted a public event examining the obstacles and strategies for the empowerment of women in countries with "mixed" legal systems on May 1, 2015.
From Iraq to Burma, from Peru to Yemen, from Nicaragua to Nepal, the personal stories of widows, children, workers, and soldiers often are lost in the cacophony of war. The U.S. Institute of Peace hosted a discussion and launch of "Speaking Their Peace: Personal Stories from the Frontlines of War and Peace," a book that tells the extraordinary stories of "ordinary" people from eleven conflict zones. This event included a moderated discussion with the book's author, Colette Rausch, and two members of the team that captured these memorable interviews, followed by a reception and book-signing session.