Experts from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest analysis and perspective on the world’s critical hot spots, U.S. and global security and issues involved in violent conflict, based on the Institute’s work on the ground and with key individuals, governments and organizations. They give interviews and background briefings to journalists and write for news outlets around the world.
Tunisia’s dramatic economic downturn since the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated social and financial woes facing the country, prompting the influential Tunisian General Labour Union, (UGTT) to call on the country’s president, Kais Saied for a National Dialogue to address...
As France is going through a crisis, some analysts do not consider it the right time to assess the reasons for the country’s failure to deal with the integration of immigrants and diversity. However, a proper reflection today will allow France to better manage the crisis and get out of...
Saad Boughdiri, a 68-year-old retiree, sits on the wall outside Parc Habib Thameur near central Tunis. For fourteen years, he says, he worked as a plumber and handyman at the Presidential Palace under Tunisia’s former autocrat, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Now...
Lebanon’s population — across the spectrum — is in an utter disarray. In the last few years, most of the paradigms about their country, which the Lebanese thought to be set in stone, have been challenged, if not proven fictive. But the blow, “which...
It was no coincidence that France's President Emmanuel Macron became the first western head of state to tour the remains of Beirut on Thursday (August 6). France's ties with Lebanon go back a long time. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed after World War I, France...
Tunisia’s parliamentary speaker Rached Ghannouchi narrowly survived a confidence vote after being accused of having exceeded the authority of his position. The closed vote showed 97 members in favour of the speaker’s removal, 12 votes shy of...
The dramatic departure of a dual US-Lebanese citizen from the US Embassy in Lebanon provided Beirut with an uncomfortable reminder of its difficult past and an unforgiving...
Amid Lebanon’s economic crisis, President Michel Aoun reassured a nervous public that several countries, especially France, were standing by to aid the embattled country. However, given the relatively fresh status of Lebanon’s government, only voted in on...
The October 17 nation-wide protests, financial crisis and subsequent security incidents in Lebanon shook a 30-year-old status quo. Across Lebanon’s religious and political groups, new voices emerged, employing rights-based language and advocating for...
With violence escalating on the streets of Lebanon, Hezbollah’s commitment to supporting any potential Iranian response to the assassination of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani risks exposing the group’s vulnerabilities at home and abroad. All through...