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.
The world is facing the most significant surge in violent conflicts since World War II. According to a United Nations briefing, a quarter of the global population is affected by conflicts today, the likes of which are more complex than ever. This new era of rising conflict rates demands an honest reexamination of...
U.S. President Joe Biden launched his summit of Pacific Island nations on Monday with an apology and an acknowledgment. First, he gave his regrets for canceling a visit to Papua New Guinea earlier this year amid domestic political drama. And then he hailed U.S. diplomatic recognition of the Cook Islands and the tiny island nation of...
Iran's government has put forth a new spokesperson to defend its policies toward women: the president's wife. Jamileh Alamolhoda accompanied her husband to the annual meeting of the United Nations in New York. She took questions from NPR as her country marked the one-year anniversary of nationwide uprisings that were triggered by the death of...
On 21 September, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad landed at the Hangzhou airport in China for an extended visit with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Except for visits to Moscow, this trip constituted Assad’s first travel outside the Middle East since the...
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s team plans “to take control once again” of a valuable lagoon occupied by China's forces, an intention that could escalate the simmering dispute over sovereignty in...
US soldier Travis King, who fled from South to North Korea in July, is in American custody after being expelled by Pyongyang, officials say. Pvt King was transferred into US custody in China before being flown to a US military installation. The 23-year-old reconnaissance specialist illegally crossed into North Korea in July. North Korean media said he had fled because of...
More than 50 people were killed and many others injured in bomb attacks in two different Pakistan provinces, officials have said. In the southwestern province of Balochistan, a powerful bomb exploded on Friday near a mosque in Mastung city, where people were...
Members of the UN Security Council this week debated the mandate of an international security mission, requested by Haitian authorities, to support its underfunded and understaffed police force. The Caribbean country has about 10,000 police officers for more than 11 million people. Kenya has pledged to send...
Of course, no analyst can say with 100 percent certainty that North Korea will never up its nuclear weapons. However, all the data points over many decades—including North Korea’s hostile relationship with the United States and South Korea, its experience of U.S. carpet-bombing during the Korean War, the constant threat of a U.S. nuclear attack, the dilapidated state of North Korea’s conventional military, the cost-effective nature of investing in...
The United Nations Security Council has approved the deployment of a multinational military force to combat ongoing gang violence in Haiti. NBC’s Valerie Castro explains which countries will be participating and if the U.S. will offer...