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.
Hours after an astonishing summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, President Donald Trump boldly declared a breakthrough. “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea,” he tweeted. Yet two years later, despite two more face-to-face meetings and many...
U.S. intelligence reports suggesting Russia offered bounty payments to the Taliban to kill American troops have sparked outrage in Washington and questions about how the White House handled the information. But former U.S. officials say that whether or not bounties were...
New U.S. sanctions under the Caesar Act could compound the economic turmoil threatening to undo the Assad regime. Bashar al-Assad has been presiding over one of the Middle East’s most disastrous civil wars for nearly a decade. But his hold on Syria could slip due to...
“There is a strong commitment among millions of Africans that they want to be able to elect their leaders and to participate in a democratic process,” said Johnnie Carson, a former assistant secretary of state for the bureau of African affairs and a senior adviser at the Institute of Peace. “The march of a democracy across Africa is not uniform; it is not always smooth, linear or rapid, but it continues,” Mr. Carson said.
Water-stressed regions such as North Africa and the Middle East are in a cycle of conflict, explained Corinne Graff, a senior policy scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace, during a talk on Aug. 29. Water shortages lead to conflict, but conflict further worsens access to clean water. “Violence destroys physical infrastructure … and public services, exacerbating drought and food insecurity,” she said. Helping fragile governments become more resilient is the only way to really solve humanitarian crises related to water, she said.
"I think that they will be extremely cautious," said Jonas Claes, a senior program officer at the United States Institute of Peace. He said he anticipates "a lot more neutral and bland statements." Aly Verjee, an expert at the United States Institute of Peace, cited a disputed 2011 gubernatorial election in South Kordofan, Sudan, which triggered deadly conflict, as "one of the most egregious examples" of the failure of international observers. In that case, he said, observers prematurely endorsed the poll despite evidence of irregularities. However, Verjee described much of the criticism of Kenya's election observers as unfair, noting that respected missions urged Odinga to take his complaints to court even though his supporters initially said they would not. Election observers, Verjee said, "are not forensic investigators, nor police, nor should anyone expect them to be."
Jonas Claes spoke to SiriusXM POTUS Ch. 124 about the Kenya Supreme Court’s nullification of the presidential election. Claes discussed the surprise decision and strong message it sent while remaining cautiously optimistic that the challenges to the election went through the court rather than violence on the streets as in the past.
Derek Mitchell was the US ambassador to Myanmar from 2012 until 2016 and he worked closely with the country's de facto leader, Aung San Syu Chi, during this time. He gives us his assessment of her handling of the current crisis with the Rohingyas.
Then, we’ll talk about what U.S. policy has been in dealing with this humanitarian crisis and what options are on the table when we speak with DEREK MITCHELL, former Ambassador to Burma under President Obama and Senior Advisor to the Asia Center at the United States Institute of Peace.
Over the past half century, the United States has fought only one big war—in Kuwait, in 1991—that was a conventional conflict. Operation Desert Storm launched a U.S.-led coalition against the Iraqi Army after it occupied oil-rich Kuwait. The combat was quick (six weeks) and successful in its limited goal: expelling Saddam Hussein’s forces from the small Gulf sheikhdom. Fewer than a hundred and fifty Americans died in battle.