The American approach to peacebuilding has deep roots in many of the world’s greatest diplomatic successes. From the creation of a new international rules-based system after World War II to the end of the Cold War, the United States has taken the lead in shaping one of the most peaceful eras in history. USIP’s Andrew Cheatham spoke with Asle Toje, deputy leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, to discuss the definition of peace outlined by Alfred Nobel, the role of the United States as a constructive partner in the international community, and examples where “the American way of peace has been much more influential in delivering positive outcomes … than the American way of war.”

Related Research & Analysis

What DRC-Rwanda Peace Deal Means for the U.S. and Africa’s Mineral-Rich Great Lakes Region

What DRC-Rwanda Peace Deal Means for the U.S. and Africa’s Mineral-Rich Great Lakes Region

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Last Friday, the foreign ministers of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) met in Washington to sign an agreement to end 30 years of conflict in Africa’s Great Lakes region. The peace deal was accompanied by commitments to build a “regional economic integration framework” and promises of U.S. investment in eastern DRC’s abundant critical mineral reserves, among other commercial agreements.

Type: Question and Answer

Philippines: Former Combatants Help Keep the Peace During Recent Polls

Philippines: Former Combatants Help Keep the Peace During Recent Polls

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

By: Haroro Ingram, Country Director, Philippines, USIP

For decades, the struggle for peace in the Philippines’ southernmost island of Mindanao has been characterized by armed conflict between the Philippines government and Moro separatist groups, like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and cycles of failed peace processes. The historic 2014 peace agreement between the Philippines government and MILF led to the granting of greater self-governance with the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) five years later. What has followed since is an unprecedented, yet very fragile, period of peace and stability.

Type: Analysis

In Nigeria’s Plateau State, Communal Violence Requires a Locally Led Solution

In Nigeria’s Plateau State, Communal Violence Requires a Locally Led Solution

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Starting in late December 2023, vicious and indiscriminate violence broke out in the Mangu local government area in Plateau State, Nigeria among the area’s farming and pastoral communities. By the time the attacks stopped in mid-February 2024, reports indicated that 865 people, including 160 children, had been brutally killed.

Type: Analysis

Netanyahu Comes to U.S. Amid Potential Inflection Point in the Middle East

Netanyahu Comes to U.S. Amid Potential Inflection Point in the Middle East

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu becomes the first foreign leader to meet with President Donald Trump since his return to the White House. The visit comes as a fragile but holding cease-fire in Gaza approaches the midway point of its initial six-week phase, and as phase two of the agreement’s prescribed negotiations begin, with critical questions surrounding Gaza’s transitional security and governance to be decided. It also comes against a backdrop of a recently extended cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, expressed interest by both Trump and Netanyahu in advancing Israeli-Saudi normalization, and international concern over Iran’s nuclear threshold, despite the setbacks dealt to the “Axis of Resistance.”

Type: Question and Answer

View All Research & Analysis