United States Institute of Peace Celebrates 25th Anniversary
On October 19, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the United States Institute of Peace Act (USIP) establishing an Institute that today, October 19, 2009, marks its 25th anniversary and evaluates its progress in fulfilling its congressional mandate.
For Immediate Release, October 19, 2009
Contact: Lauren Sucher, 202/429-3822
(Washington, D.C.) – On October 19, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the United States Institute of Peace Act (USIP) establishing an Institute that today, October 19, 2009, marks its 25th anniversary and evaluates its progress in fulfilling its congressional mandate.
The Institute's mandate from Congress is threefold:
- Prevent and resolve violent international conflicts
- Promote post-conflict stability and development
- Increase conflict management capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide
USIP President Ambassador Richard H. Solomon said, "The United States Institute of Peace has developed new and innovative ways over the years to help end violent international conflict without violence. As our staff has grown over the years, so have the types of programming and work we can do, and I am proud to say that we are actively engaged on all of the key priorities with which the Congress tasked us 25 years ago. And there is more to come as we build and professionalize the field of peacebuilding."
In Washington, D.C., the Institute hosts more than 100 public events per year on relevant and timely issues; publishes books, toolkits, manuals and other resources for academics and practitioners; awards millions of dollars each year in grants; hosts a class of fellows, and runs an essay contest that brings students from around the country to Washington, D.C. for a week.
Outside of Washington, D.C., the Institute provides negotiation, mediation and conflict resolution training to citizen, government, military and other service organizations around the world; supplements official negotiations with "track two" dialogues; helps local organizations strengthen their ties to one another and build on shared resources; works with community college, university and secondary school faculty to integrate conflict resolution skills into their existing curricula, and sends staff to speak in public venues about international conflict and nonviolent approaches to ending them.
Two new endeavors will expand the Institute's reach. One is the construction of a permanent headquarters facility on the northwest corner of the National Mall which will have a state-of-the-art conference center and a public engagement center to welcome and educate school groups, tourists and other visitors. The building is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2011. The other is a USIP-run Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, which delivers courses now and will operate fully when installed into two dedicated buildings on the Institute’s new campus. Academy instructors, who are USIP staff and senior practitioners in the field, teach a full load of courses at the Institute and conduct specialized courses in partnership with organizations outside of Washington.
USIP Board Chairman J. Robinson West said, "Over the last 25 years, the United States Institute of Peace has become a significant factor in the conduct of American foreign policy. Since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, we have had to learn to deal with new and serious problems. From failed and failing states, to low intensity conflicts, to religious wars, we also have had to learn how to use tools which were unimaginable 25 years ago, such as the Internet. Through serious scholarship, highly professional training in its new academy which is carried through to action on the ground, USIP has made a significant difference. This can be seen all over the world from South Africa to Afghanistan and from Iraq to Nigeria. The role of USIP will increase even more in the next 25 years given the challenges we face and the solutions we are helping to find."
