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.
Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom spoke at the U.S. Institute of Peace on June 22 providing a progress report and discussion of how the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development are implementing their new strategy for lowering and managing those risks, based on the 2015 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR).
United States forces and their allies abroad have underestimated the irreversible damage done to their missions when they kill or harm civilians, says a new report by combat veteran and strategist Christopher Kolenda and human rights researcher Rachel Reid. On June 8, the report’s authors, with former Under Secretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy, held a discussion at USIP of their findings.
On November 12, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited the U.S. Institute to deliver a policy speech focused on Syria. Read the event coverage, Kerry Says Assad Staying as Syrian Leader Is a "Non-Starter".
Former Special Assistant to the President Phil Gordon, International Rescue Committee President and CEO David Miliband and USIP President Nancy Lindborg headlined a discussion on Oct. 16 on rethinking humanitarian aid to prevent the further breakdown of a system straining under the global refugee crisis amid protracted conflict. James Fallows, national correspondent at The Atlantic, moderated the conversation.
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.
Iran and the world’s six major powers now face a June 30 deadline for converting a blueprint into a final nuclear deal. A unique panel of former U.S. and Iranian officials assessed the status of the talks and the political dynamics that will determine the fate of any agreement in Washington and Tehran. The discussion was held on April 20 at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
On March 10 the U.S. Institute of Peace held a discussion with a delegation from the U.N. panel co-hosted with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs and the Better World Campaign.
The results of a new, comprehensive survey of Ukrainians, including those in the East, were revealed before a discussion of the findings on Monday, March 9, at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
On February 24 Senator Russell Feingold, the U.S. special envoy working to stabilize Africa’s Great Lakes region, spoke at the U.S. Institute of Peace following his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
On December 15th, USIP hosted a panel of current and former officials from the U.S., Japan and South Korea that examined the post-2012 political, economic and security landscape in Northeast Asia following leadership changes – both democratically facilitated and planned. Against this background, the panel assessed challenges and opportunities for the U.S., Japan and South Korea.