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.
A Taliban attack on a provincial headquarters of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency which left 10 people dead will undermine the fragile peace process, experts say. The car bomb and ensuing gunfire assault in Samangan’s provincial capital Aybak on Monday ended with...
Two recent standoffs with China and Russia have offered a sobering view of the coming great power competition between the U.S. and its two biggest rivals and just how dangerous it may become. On June 27, U.S. fighter planes intercepted Russian jets that had pierced...
Syrians went to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament in the midst of a coronavirus outbreak and a deepening economic crisis, as President Bashar al-Assad attempts to strengthen his political grip on the country after nearly a decade of war. The tightly controlled vote is...
The United States has ordered China’s consulate in Houston closed by Friday, an escalatory step that deepens the relationship crisis between the world’s top powers and opens up a new front in their burgeoning cold war. In an early Wednesday morning statement, the...
After a brief lull due to the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea is carrying out large-scale smuggling operations off the coast of China in violation of U.N. sanctions, importing oil and selling coal and sand to keep its economy afloat, according to experts and current and...
A Taliban claim that it has moved away from its strict restrictions on the local Afghan population has been received with skepticism, with some observers warning that the militants continue to violate fundamental human rights in remote Afghan districts they control. Before their...
The Taliban announced a temporary cease-fire Tuesday as pressure builds to bring the militants and the Afghan government together for direct peace talks now months overdue. The Afghan government welcomed the move marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and...
North Korea may be seeking help from abroad along with propaganda points at home with a weekend announcement of its first suspected COVID-19 case, a report that blamed the infection on an exiled North Korean man fleeing from South Korea, experts told...
While Americans are understandably preoccupied with multiple crises at home, a catastrophe is looming in Lebanon with significant implications for the United States. Roiled by a major debt crisis that has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and...
With its staggering human toll, the COVID-19 pandemic already constitutes one of the greatest challenges America has ever faced. It is also a reminder to all Americans that what happens in far off corners of the world directly impacts their lives and livelihoods. In the 20th century, we...