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.
Human Rights Violations: U.S. Foreign Aid for Accountability and Prevention
For two decades, ensuring the U.S. isn’t complicit in gross human rights abuses by foreign police and military forces has rested in significant part on the shoulders of a law devised by Senator Patrick Leahy that bars U.S. foreign aid to individuals or institutions that commit violations. This week, Leahy exhorted more than 130 representatives of government, non-profit groups, international organizations, academia and research institutions gathered at USIP to consider the next step: how U.S. assistance can be used more effectively for both accountability and prevention.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Explains Feminist Foreign Policy
When Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström announced last year that her government would pursue a “feminist foreign policy,” the idea “met with considerable derision,” she says. “We call it the giggling factor.” And where the response was not quiet laughter, it was often confusion, including in Washington. “No one knows what this means” for Sweden’s approach to conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war, a Foreign Policy headline declared in December.
Kerry, Rice, Flynn Talk Foreign Policy
Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Susan Rice and designated incoming National Security Advisor Michael Flynn are among the Cabinet-level and other senior foreign policy and national security figures from the outgoing and incoming administrations gathering on Tuesday, Jan. 10 at USIP for a day of discussion about the global challenges facing the United States in the coming months and years.
Foreign Policy Priorities for the Trump Administration
As Donald J. Trump prepares for his inauguration as president on Jan. 20, he and his incoming foreign policy team face the full array of global challenges confronting the United States. They’ll have to determine what should demand their immediate attention and where strategic investments might pay big dividends. In this series of brief video interviews, four U.S. Institute of Peace experts offer their recommendations. They spoke ahead of USIP’s Passing the Baton conference, which will convene Cabinet-level and other senior foreign policy and national security figures from the outgoing and incoming administrations for meetings on January 9 and 10.
Kerry Says Assad Staying as Syrian Leader Is a "Non-Starter"
Secretary of State John Kerry, in an address at the U.S. Institute of Peace on the U.S. approach to the war in Syria, reinforced the administration’s firm opposition to allowing President Bashar al-Assad to remain in power under any resolution to the 4 ½-year conflict. Before leaving the U.S. today to resume talks on Syria in Vienna, Kerry pledged accelerated U.S. diplomatic and military efforts to end the fighting and defeat the self-styled “Islamic State” extremist group.
Poor Planning, Coordination Cited in Afghan Intervention
Failings by the United States and its NATO partners in the early stages of the 15-year-long war in Afghanistan have prolonged that country’s need for international troops and economic help, U.S. and German officials said in a recent forum at the U.S. Institute of Peace that examined the lessons learned during the past decade.
Q&A: Iran Nuclear Accord Milestone
In a historic milestone of the nuclear agreement reached in July between Iran and the world’s major powers, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog certified on January 16 that Iran had complied with restrictions on its nuclear program and the international community lifted a range of sanctions imposed on the regime over the past decades. Daniel Brumberg, a special advisor at the U.S. Institute of Peace, considers the ramifications for the region and the world.
Q&A: Muslim Scholars Pledge Support for Religious Minorities
Muslim scholars and intellectuals from more than 120 countries issued a new pledge of support last week for the protection and freedom of religious minorities in Muslim-majority communities. Susan Hayward, USIP’s director of religion and inclusive societies and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, attended the three-day conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, as a supporter, and explains the significance of the pronouncement.
Fragile States Require Unified Response, Lindborg Says
U.S. Institute of Peace President Nancy Lindborg called for united action by humanitarian and economic development organizations, telling the opening session of the World Bank’s 2016 “Fragility Forum” that peace, development and security are inextricably linked in today’s world crises.
Laura Bush Urges Sustained Support for Afghan Women
Former first lady Laura Bush said the international community must continue to support the reconstruction of Afghanistan and progress for the country’s women through aid, investment and an ongoing presence of American troops. Speaking at the U.S. Institute of Peace on March 15, Bush said she remains hopeful for the country’s future, in part because of the spirit of Afghan women and the strides they have made in education, business and government.