Congress founded the U.S. Institute of Peace in 1984 to help our nation “promote international peace and the resolution of conflicts among the nations and peoples of the world without recourse to violence.” In the 35 years since then, the Institute has pursued that mandate, strengthening America’s capacity to build peace through programs in Washington, in our nation’s schools, and in dangerous conflict zones abroad. Here are some of those stories…
35 Years of Making Peace Possible
Pausing to Pay a Debt to Veterans and Fellow Citizens
Helping Crisis-responders Work Better Together
October 30, 2019
When violent conflict triggers humanitarian disasters, a wide range of organizations must respond: U.S. government civilian agencies, military forces, nonprofit humanitarian groups and international organizations. USIP works constantly to build coordination among these people and institutions. Each year, the Institute conducts a “tabletop exercise” to help these groups practice better coordination in responding to crises from Africa’s Sahel region to the southern Philippines to the Red Sea and Horn of Africa. (Learn about USIP’s Interorganizational Tabletop Exercise)
Halting Religious Clashes with Nigeria’s ‘Pastor and Imam’
October 23, 2019
Christians and Muslims in Nigeria’s Yelwa-Shendam region fought in the early 2000s—a conflict that killed more than 1,000 people. USIP partnered with Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye in mediating a peace agreement that halted the bloodshed. USIP provided seed funding for their work, helping them to build their Interfaith Mediation Center into an institution that trained Nigerians—and people in Kenya, Iraq, Sri Lanka and elsewhere—on ways to help their countries solve their own conflicts without violence. (Read more)
Mediating Peace in Iraq’s ‘Triangle of Death’
October 16, 2019
In 2007, nearly 3,500 U.S. troops struggled to end tribal fighting and al-Qaida violence in Mahmoudiya, a district south of Baghdad. The Army’s 10th Mountain Division called USIP for help. The Institute used its specialized research, training and mediation capacities to work with Iraqi partners in leading a peace process among 31 local tribes. The resulting peace accord forced al-Qaida out of the region, and U.S. combat deaths dropped from more than 50 per year before the accord to one in the year that followed. The Army was able to reduce its force in the region by 80 percent. When ISIS arose years later, Mahmoudiya rebuffed the extremists’ call for an uprising and the peace agreement continues to bolster stability in the area. (Read more)
