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.
In an era of global disorder—propelled by the intertwined dynamics of globalization and proliferating technology—the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) stand out as perhaps the most chaotic region. A proverbial “canary in the coal mine,” the MENA region’s numerous conflicts and endemic instability...
Two months after the lofty promises of the Singapore summit, the United States and North Korea are back to square one. Both sides are blaming each other for failing to implement the agreements. The first signs of souring appeared less than a month after the Singapore meeting...
You could see him as the power-hungry man atop a container,operating at the behest of the military and out to undermine Pakistan's democratic progression. Or you could cast him as the principled leader who stuck to his guns, and defied all those who had predicted that he would settle for...
Incorrigible optimists in Pakistan, albeit very few in numbers, are disappointed with the US decision to suspend military and educational training of 66 Pakistani officers under the ‘International Military Education and Training program’, thanks to the obstinacy of President Donald Trump. This is the first awkward bouncer to new Prime Minister Imran Khan Niazi in the foreign policy arena as if reminding that his glorious cricketing career is irrelevant...
In a rare diplomatic foray and the strongest sign yet of increasing Taliban political clout in the region, the head of the insurgents’ political office led a delegation to Uzbekistan to meet senior Foreign Ministry officials there, Uzbek and Taliban officials said. Taliban political chief Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai represented the insurgents in the four-day talks that ended on Friday and included meetings with Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister...
A brazen and bloody overnight assault Friday by the Taliban on a key provincial capital in central Afghanistan has increased pressure on U.S.-backed Afghan forces that are withering under relentless attacks, prompting President Ashraf Ghani to call an emergency meeting of his security officials. While government security forces in the city of Ghazni repulsed the multipronged attack with the help of U.S. air support, Taliban insurgents remained...
Thousands of residents of South Sudan's capital Juba have been celebrating a peace deal struck between President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, which rekindles hope that the guns will stop firing. The second power-sharing agreement deal was signed on Sunday in Khartoum...
A weekafter a general election rocked by suspicions of fraud, the dust is beginning to settle. It looks all but certain that Imran Khan, a former captain of Pakistan’s cricket team, will be sworn in as the country’s next prime minister. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), will dominate...