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.
How the United Nations Can Harness 'People Power'
The United Nations has declared a priority this year to unify and strengthen its work in building peace—and U.N. bodies will meet in the next two months to advance that change. U.N. leaders have acknowledged that a vital element in peacebuilding is nonviolent, grassroots movements. But as the United Nations aims to more efficiently promote peace, how prepared is it to actually work with them?
Maria Stephan on the Iranian Protests
Maria Stephan discusses non-violent action in Iran and the diversity among participants in the recent protests. Stephan tackles the impact of cyber suppression on protesters and how "he
Banging Pots for Peace: Strategies to Prevent Electoral Violence
The recent election violence in Kenya and Honduras reveals a pattern that’s all too familiar: An incumbent campaigns on a platform of law and order and declares victory after a contested election. The
How the Catholic Church Can Bolster Alternatives to Violence
The Catholic Church, with its 2.1 billion adherents worldwide, has been pivotal in some of the most significant nonviolent struggles in modern history. Many will recall the iconic image of Filipino religious sisters confronting military forces and a kleptocratic dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in prayerful resistance during the 1986 “people power” revolution. Today, Filipino religious leaders, facing another violent dictator, Rodrigo Duterte, once again are the leading face of nonviolent resistance. The Vatican is discussing these and other examples of powerful nonviolent movements as it rethinks its long-held doctrine of “just war.”
Q&A: Speaking Truth to Power—What Really Builds Peace
As global leaders debate ways to reduce the world’s violence at this year’s United Nations General Assembly session, many peacebuilding experts and civil society activists argue that more of this work needs to be done at the grass roots, often through nonviolent movements for change.
Responding to the Global Threat of Closing Civic Space: Policy Options
Maria Stephan, senior policy fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on March 21, 2017 on "Responding to the Global Threat of Closing Civic Space: Policy Options."
Adopting a Movement Mindset to Address the Challenge of Fragility
The Fragility Study Group is an independent, non-partisan, effort of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Center for a New American Security and the United States Institute of Peace. The chair report of the study group, U.S. Leadership and the Challenge of State Fragility, was released on September 12. This brief is part of a series authored by scholars from the three institutions that build on the chair report to discuss the implications of fragility on existing U.S. tools, st...
What Happens When You Replace a Just War With a Just Peace
Can the Catholic Church put an end to centuries of sanctioning war, and start promoting peace instead
Poland’s Liberals Strike Back
Here's how Poles are fighting back against their authoritarian-leaning new government.
The Peacebuilder’s Field Guide to Protest Movements
Protest movements around the world scored major victories in 2015. But if we want to see real change, international donors need to stop fretting and lend a hand.