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.
Iraq Operation to Recapture Mosul Needs Plan for Aftermath
The planning taking place to recapture Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, from the “Islamic State,” or ISIS, extremist group should involve not only meticulous military preparations but also careful thought to ensuring a peaceful aftermath is sustainable over the long term, said Qubad Talabani, the deputy prime minister of the country’s Kurdish region, which has helped lead the drive to end the extremist organization’s hold on vast swaths of territory. But the Kurdistan Regional Government (K...
Panel Urges New View of Middle East Refugees
The refugee crisis that has spread to Europe and the breakdown of the Middle East’s century-old political order demand new thinking about the economic role of displaced people and a reassessment of donor strategies to rebuild societies in conflict, a working group convened by the U.S. Institute of Peace concluded. The panel’s report, developed under USIP’s Manal Omar and Elie Abouaoun as part of Atlantic Council’s Middle East Strategy Task Force, calls for refugees to be viewed as potential e...
The Causes and Consequences of Violent Extremism and the Role of Foreign Assistance
Nancy Lindborg, USIP president, submitted testimony for the record, to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and related programs.
Brussels Attacks Highlight Connection to Regional Arcs of Crisis
My sympathy goes out to the survivors and families of those who died in the terrible attacks in a string of bombings over this last week -- from Brussels to Baghdad to Lahore. I was in Brussels on a business trip and was preparing to leave my hotel to catch a flight back to Washington when we got word of the explosions at the airport and the metro station there. The terror that was palpable last week in Brussels is sadly all too common in those five countries that top the list for violent extremist incidents and fatalities: Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Syria. And, we are increasingly seeing the outward ripples.
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.
Patronage and Peace in the Horn of Africa
Peacebuilders in the Horn of Africa and across the larger Middle East are likely to get better outcomes with a greater understanding of the region’s “political marketplace,” where loyalties based on financial and economic means seem to create more stability than classic institution-building, according to Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation and a professor at Tufts University. But rather than succumbing to illegitimate patronage, some experts say the answer may lie i...
Landmark U.N. Resolution Elevates Youth in Work for Peace
In a landmark decision, the United Nations Security Council this week adopted its first resolution to address the critical role that young people play in preventing and resolving conflict. Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security, which passed with the unanimous support of the U.N.’s 193 member states, is especially vital given that more than half of the world’s population is under the age of 30, and 70 percent of them are concentrated in Africa and the Middle East, two regions roiled by violent conflict.
Saving U.N. Peacekeeping: High Stakes for the U.S.
As America and its allies confront a widened war in Syria, the refugee exodus to Europe, and terrorist violence in Paris, Beirut and Mali, we must treat the roots, not just symptoms, of these catastrophes. That will require an urgent repair of our world’s main tool for addressing violent conflict—the increasingly overwhelmed United Nations peacekeeping system.
Can Anything Save the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process?
As the decades-long struggle threatens to boil over, there are four concrete steps the international community can take to help the peace along.
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.