Peaceful Elections in Kenya? Start Preparing Now for 2022

Peaceful Elections in Kenya? Start Preparing Now for 2022

Friday, August 4, 2017

By: Susan Stigant

The people of Kenya go to the polls next week to select their next President as well as members of the national assembly and local-level officials. In a country vital to U.S. security and economic interests in East Africa, preparations for the elections have been rocky and tense. Many analysts have drawn parallels to past elections to predict whether peace or violence will prevail. But assessing the 2017 elections will require more than a snapshot review of election week or comparisons with past violence.

Type: Analysis

Global Elections & ConflictConflict Analysis & Prevention

'U.S.-Light' in Iraq May Open Way for Russia, Iran

'U.S.-Light' in Iraq May Open Way for Russia, Iran

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

By: Fred Strasser

A failure by the international community to help rebuild Iraq will leave a vacuum that Russia, Iran or some new extremist group will seek to fill, warned the co-chairman of a working group in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. In a recent discussion at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Ekkehard Brose agreed with the top U.S. State Department official on Iraq, Joseph Pennington, that Iraq must ultimately solve its own problems. But at this point, it can’t, Brose said.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & GovernanceViolent ExtremismGlobal Policy

Lake Chad Exercise Demonstrates New Civilian-Military Approach

Lake Chad Exercise Demonstrates New Civilian-Military Approach

Friday, July 7, 2017

By: Ann L. Phillips, Ph.D.;  Jim Ruf

A group of senior U.S. military and civilian leaders recently agreed to find ways to work together more effectively to counter violent extremism in the volatile Lake Chad Basin of Africa, a region reeling from the casualties and destruction wrought for years by terrorist groups such as Boko Haram. The agreement emerged from a new exercise model...

Type: Analysis

Civilian-Military RelationsFragility & Resilience

Rwanda’s Election Signals Risk to Recovery from Genocide

Rwanda’s Election Signals Risk to Recovery from Genocide

Thursday, July 6, 2017

By: Corinne Graff, Ph.D.

Rwandans head to the polls in August for an election in which incumbent President Paul Kagame will seek—and likely win handily—a third seven-year term. Despite the controversy over a 2015 referendum that amended the constitution to let him to run again and possibly stay in power for as long as 35 years, his political opposition...

Type: Analysis

Global Elections & ConflictDemocracy & GovernanceReconciliation

To Stabilize Iraq After ISIS, Try a Method That Worked

To Stabilize Iraq After ISIS, Try a Method That Worked

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

By: Nancy Lindborg

The farming region of Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, is divided by one of Iraq’s most turbulent fault lines of conflict, between the country’s Sunni and Shia tribes. A decade ago, this region of palm groves and irrigation canals was a violent al Qaeda stronghold known as the “Triangle of Death.” Yet for 2016, news reports and the United Nations’ accounting of nearly 7,000 or more civilian deaths across Iraq noted few attacks in this region, a reflection of its relative stability in recent years.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & GovernanceViolent Extremism

Defusing Violent Extremism in Fragile States

Defusing Violent Extremism in Fragile States

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

By: Fred Strasser

In Nigeria, a radio call-in show with local Islamic scholars provided an alternative to extremist propaganda. In Somalia, training youth in nonviolent advocacy for better governance produced a sharp drop in support for political violence. In the Lake Chad region, coordinating U.S. defense, development and diplomatic efforts helped push back Boko Haram and strengthened surrounding states. Such cases illustrate ways to close off the openings for extremism in fragile states, experts said in a discussion at the U.S. Institute of Peace. 

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismFragility & Resilience