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.
The U.S. Institute of Peace, the African Union and the African Ambassadors Group co-hosted an event marking Africa Day on May 26 at the U.S. Institute of Peace. This event highlighted women’s roles in peacebuilding and development, and marked the progress made and the major risks and threats remaining to achieve the goals of Agenda 2063.
On May 6, 2015, the Atlantic Council and the U.S. Institute of Peace welcomed H.E. Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on his first visit to the U.S. in three years. The President discussed on the challenges and priorities of Iraqi Kurdistan in the war against ISIS, the Kurdistan region’s relations with the U.S. and the future of the broader Middle East.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who also has been a pivotal figure in the African Union, gave remarks at the U.S. Institute of Peace on April 22, exploring Africa’s leadership challenges in terms of “What’s Right With Africa.”
On April 17, Pakistani legislators visiting Washington met with their American counterparts and discussed their country’s challenges and the role that the National Assembly can play in meeting them.
The Atlantic Council and the U.S. Institute of Peace welcomed the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, His Excellency Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, on the occasion of his first official visit to Washington, D.C. since being sworn in as president on September 21, 2014. The public address, with questions and answers from the invite-only audience and via Twitter, took place on March 25, 2015 at USIP headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Ukrainian government has pledged to undertake a major campaign to root out corruption. But a year after the departure of former President Yanukovych, the pace of reform continues to drag. USIP hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday, March 3, that evaluated the prospects for reducing corruption in Ukraine and how change could be accelerated.
On February 26, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, spoke at an event hosted by U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and the U.S. Institute of Peace in Hart Senate Office Building. The speech was during her first trip to Washington since Liberia’s declaration of a state of emergency over the Ebola outbreak last July.
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).
The devastating attack on the Peshawar Army Public School in December spurred Pakistan’s government, led by the Ministry of the Interior, to draft a 20-point National Action Plan against terrorism. The Honorable Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Pakistan’s minister of the interior, outlined the plan and his country’s terrorism challenge on February 18, his first public appearance in Washington since taking office in June 2013.
The recent eruptions of violence in the Middle East, parts of Africa and Eastern Europe illustrate the high hurdles of conflict management amid rapidly shifting power dynamics. On February 11, USIP held a discussion on how to address violent conflict in an era of increasing diffusion of power from central institutions to a range of smaller units.