Publications
Articles, publications, books, tools and multimedia features from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest news, analysis, research findings, practitioner guides and reports, all related to the conflict zones and issues that are at the center of the Institute’s work to prevent and reduce violent conflict.
Can Big Data Stop Wars Before They Happen?
It has been almost two decades exactly since conflict prevention shot to the top of the peace-building agenda, as large-scale killings shifted from interstate wars to intrastate and intergroup conflicts.
A 'Most Desolate Place' Gets a New Lease on Life in Kenya
A colleague once remarked about northern Kenya as we flew over it en route to South Sudan, “I’ve been to many parts of the world, but I believe this is the most desolate place I have ever seen.” The recent discovery of an enormous supply of underground water in the area could transform that “most desolate place” in ways few could have envisioned.
USIP Prevention Newsletter - September 2013
The September 2013 Prevention Newsletter features a Q&A with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Holt on Peacekeeping and Atrocity Prevention, and highlights the role of Track 1.5 Dialogues as an instrument for conflict prevention.
Responsibility to Protect Weighed Down by Misconceptions
To the limited extent policymakers in Washington, D.C. are familiar with the Responsibility to Protect, the principle is frequently dismissed as “a U.N. thing” or “something the Canadians came up with.” Ever since the concept was first introduced in 2001, the U.S. response has remained lukewarm, even though heads of state and government unanimously endorsed the principle at the 2005 United Nations World Summit, the U.S. among them.
USIP Meeting Examines Kenya’s Peaceful Elections
A May 21 panel at USIP assessed the reasons for a largely peaceful election this year in Kenya, where more than 1,000 people had been killed in post-election violence in 2007-08.
USIP Prevention Newsletter - May 2013
The May 2013 Prevention Newsletter features a Q&A with the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, on the Responsibility to Protect and highlights the role of security sector reform as a tool for preventive action.
'Big Data,' Text Messages Can Aid, Not Drive Conflict Prevention
New technologies can be effective tools for preventing conflicts, but they have to be part of a coordinated strategy rather than the driving factor for a prevention effort, according to findings from an examination of cases in multiple countries on three continents.
Kenya's Elections: What's Next?
USIP’s Jacqueline Wilson discusses the recent Kenyan elections and how the country can continue to mend rifts from the 2007 violence.
USIP Prevention Newsletter - March 2013
The March 2013 Prevention Newsletter features a Q&A with USIP President Jim Marshall on the importance of preventive action and highlights the role of regional integration as a tool for preventive action.
Voting in Fear
In Voting in Fear, nine contributors offer pioneering work on the scope and nature of electoral violence in Africa; investigate the forms electoral violence takes; and analyze the factors that precipitate, reduce, and prevent violence. The book breaks new ground with findings from the only known dataset of electoral violence in sub-Saharan Africa, spanning 1990 to 2008. Specific case studies of electoral violence in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria provide the context to further un...