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.
Women and Violent Extremism: A Growing Threat Demands Concerted Action
The extremist organization ISIS manipulates gender dynamics far better than its opponents often understand. It recruits young men with promises of control over women and uses mass rape as a form of cohesion. At the same time, it lures isolated women with appeals to enlarge their lives by joining a cause. Policymakers seeking to address the role of women in countering violent extremism must take an equally layered, multi-pronged approach to gender, according to experts from government, the Uni...
Conflict and Extremist-Related Sexual Violence
As extremist groups in the Middle East and North Africa perpetrate sexual violence against women as part of their campaigns to further their interests and propagate fear, scholars are reaching a deeper understanding of the ways in which sexual violence, before, during, and after conflict, arises from a complex pattern of political, military, social, and economic factors. International actors can draw from this work to craft responses that better assist survivors and hold perpetrators accounta...
Women Under ISIS Rule: From Brutality to Recruitment
Dr. Kathleen Kuehnast, director of gender programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. More from Dr. Kuehnast following her testimony, ”How ISIS Exploits Children by Manipulating Gender Dynamics."
Unlearning Violence: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us that “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable…” So when we see steps toward justice and a narrative of hope returning to a country worn by violence and conflict, those of us in the peacebuilding field feel reinvigorated. We were fortunate to see an example on July 14, when the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo co-sponsored with USIP a discussion with that country’s Personal Representative of the President in Charge of the Fight Against Sexual Violence and Child Recruitment, Jeanine Mabunda Lioko Mudiayi.
Nigeria's Buhari Presses for Military Aid, Pledges 'Zero Tolerance' for Corruption
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said his new government will “do what it takes” to defeat the extremist violence of Boko Haram, and he bluntly called on the U.S. to ease its restrictions on providing the weapons that his military needs to prevail in the fight. In an address at the U.S. Institute of Peace today, he also reaffirmed “zero tolerance” for corruption and pledged to restore trust in the country’s governance.
Obama, in Africa, Will Need to Balance Agenda, Ex-Envoys Say
Six years after Barack Obama first visited sub-Saharan Africa as a presidential messenger of democracy, he faces a more complicated task in turning back to the continent next week. Obama hosts Nigeria’s new president, Muhammadu Buhari, on July 20, and then flies to Kenya and Ethiopia. As he does, the continent’s security threats and its urgent need to address ongoing poverty are forcing him to balance priorities and messages, say two former assistant secretaries of state now at the U.S. Insti...
Bring Back Our Democracy
Activist movements are changing the way that the world changes — and if the United States wants to help democracy abroad, it needs to update who it throws its weight behind.
Q&A: Security and Democracy in Tunisia after Latest Attack
A Tunisian gunman recently massacred 38 people at the major resort of Sousse. It was the second mass attack this year, after the March 18 assault on the well-known Bardo Museum in the capital Tunis that killed 22 people, most of them tourists. U.S. Institute of Peace Special Advisor Daniel Brumberg explores the ramifications for Tunisia and the region, as the country shows determination to pursue a democratic transition.
Ashraf Ghani’s Pakistan Outreach
Shortly after entering office at the end of 2014, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani embarked on a bold but controversial policy of sustained conciliation toward Pakistan, with the goal of securing greater cooperation in securing a comprehensive peace with the Afghan Taliban and integrating Afghanistan into the regional economies. Pakistan's tepid response to date, however, has left Ghani politically vulnerable, with his opponents attacking his outreach effort. Time is of the essence. Without mea...
India’s Nobel Winner Takes His Fight for Children Global
Indian children’s rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi is using his Nobel Peace Prize to build a global campaign to end child labor and enslavement. He outlined his plan at the U.S. Institute of Peace last week in his first visit to the U.S. since receiving the award.