United States Institute of Peace

As Côte d'Ivoire prepares for presidential elections in October 2025, lingering divisions along social and ethnic fault lines — as well as foreign interference and misinformation — have the potential to spark violence should the electoral process fail to earn the public’s trust. Samuel Ngambo, president of the Center for the Promotion of Human Rights and Development in Africa, discusses the issues facing the country, Côte d'Ivoire’s role in supporting regional stability, and how officials can reassure voters that the electoral system will deliver free and fair results.

Type: Blog

The U.S. government has concluded that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed acts of genocide in Sudan after reviewing overwhelming evidence of the group’s mounting atrocities, which include the systemic targeting of women and children, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Former U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello discusses how this designation permanently delegitimizes the RSF and its leadership, its impact on the ongoing civil war, and how the international community can elevate the voices of Sudanese people seeking a return to peace and democratic governance.

Type: Blog

Nearly 282 million people faced acute hunger in 2023. Meanwhile, climate change threatens to disrupt agriculture and worsen already-dire global food crises. Amid such widespread instability, the need for agricultural solutions to rebuild communities has never been more urgent. USIP recently hosted conversations on how food systems are increasingly viewed as a critical lever for peace — and how agricultural development can be a transformative force in conflict-affected regions.

Type: Blog

Citizen diplomacy — the act of building of direct people-to-people ties — has unlocked so many paths for Vietnam War reconciliation over the years. As the U.S.-Vietnam relationship enters a new era, youth leaders from both sides hope they can play a pivotal role in building similar relationships to address ongoing war legacies. Vietnam War veteran Theodore Hammett, PeaceTrees Vietnam Executive Director Claire Yunker, and U.S.-Vietnam Youth Leadership Cohort members Yia Vue and Hai Van Le discuss how introducing people earlier opens the door for empathy and cooperation and why young people don’t need to wait for permission to start making a difference.

Type: Blog

Under the Bougainville Peace Agreement, 97.7 percent of Bougainvillians voted for independence from Papua New Guinea in a 2019 nonbinding referendum. But despite this near-unanimous result, the agreement itself was unclear on how the process should proceed — leaving the governments of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea to develop a political settlement on their own. Kevin Pullen, a doctoral candidate at the Australian National University, explores where the negotiations stand today, why it’s important to prepare Bougainville to manage its own affairs regardless of what shape the political settlement may take, and the situation’s impact on U.S. Indo-Pacific policy.

Type: Blog

After a startling number of coups in recent years, transitional governments are starting to take shape throughout the Sahel region of Africa. The situation remains precarious, with continued violent extremism and local insurgencies threatening to unleash further instability in the region. As a result, many West Africans are asking tough questions about their experiences with democratic governance. USIP’s Ambassador Maman Sidikou explains why — despite past shortcomings — democracy and good governance remain the best option for political stability in West Africa and how countries in the region can use their transitions to build effective governance based on the ethics of responsibility and accountability.

Type: Blog

Africans across the continent remain committed to democratic governance — but many are not satisfied with the way democracy currently works in their countries, according to research from Afrobarometer. To address these shortcomings in good governance, the African Union’s African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) offers recommendations on how African governments can improve their countries’ political and economic stability. Afrobarometer CEO Joseph Asunka and APRM CEO Ambassador Marie-Antoinette Rose Quatre discuss the state of democracy on the continent, how Afrobarometer’s extensive survey research helps APRM evaluate the implementation of its recommendations, and how opinions of the African Union have grown more positive in recent years.

Type: Blog

When Nguyễn Xuân Thắng was young, he developed a passion for researching various documents, military studies, maps and weapons related to the Vietnam War. Eventually, he realized he could use these records to search for the remains of his maternal uncle, one of the many fallen North Vietnamese soldiers — or “martyrs,” as they are referred to in Vietnam — that were buried in unknown locations.

Type: Blog