Publications
Articles, publications, books, tools and multimedia features from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest news, analysis, research findings, practitioner guides and reports, all related to the conflict zones and issues that are at the center of the Institute’s work to prevent and reduce violent conflict.
La guerra entre Israel y Hamas divide a América Latina a través de líneas partidistas
A medida que aumentan las bajas civiles en el conflicto entre Israel y Hamás, muchos líderes latinoamericanos están intensificando sus críticas al gobierno israelí. Bolivia recientemente se convirtió en el primer país en romper relaciones con Israel; Chile, Colombia y Honduras llamaron a sus embajadores para consultas; y diplomáticos de Argentina, Brasil y México han condenado a Israel por su violencia, exigiendo un cese inmediato de las hostilidades.
Is the Middle East on the Verge of a Wider War?
Three months after the Hamas terror attack on Israel, reverberations from the ensuing conflict in Gaza threaten to engulf the region in a wider war.
Six Dilemmas Facing Egypt
Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Egypt has been heavily involved in efforts to end the military confrontations and wars that have periodically broken out in Gaza. However, the scope, scale and stakes of the current war is unlike any prior round of hostilities. In response to the massacre and hostage-taking of mostly Israeli civilians by Hamas and other militant armed groups during their devastating attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel has launched one of the most destructive wars in its history. Indeed, this war will be transformational in numerous ways, with ramifications for several stakeholders beyond the parties themselves.
Regional Actors Seek to Douse Flames Fueled by Jerusalem Tensions
The saying that history doesn’t repeat, but rhymes is no truer than in Jerusalem. Two years have yet to pass since the large-scale escalation that took root in the city morphed into deadly violence between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel and an Israel-Hamas military escalation that claimed the lives of over 200 Palestinians and 12 Israelis. Now, once again, events in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan have become proximate cause for a cascading series of violent events that have victimized Palestinians and Israelis, and opened another chapter of contested narratives and mutual recriminations.
Is China Preparing to Make a Run at Israeli-Palestinian Peace?
Since April of last year, Xi Jinping and China’s foreign policy apparatus have been touting the Chinese leader’s vision of an alternative to the U.S.-led global security order, dubbed the Global Security Initiative (GSI). While Beijing has incrementally elaborated on Xi’s GSI, it remains an inchoate, fuzzy concept. What is clear is that Beijing wants to be seen as a global force for peace and stability that is capable of resolving international issues that appeared intractable under the U.S.-led security order. And it has repeatedly pointed to the detente it brokered between longtime foes Iran and Saudi Arabia as an example of its peacemaking prowess. As China deepens its involvement in the Middle East and campaigns for the GSI, is it gearing up to take on one of the region’s most vexing challenges, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
The Israeli-Palestinian Standoff: More Risks Emerging
The hobbled Palestinian economy, the weakness of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority that governs much of the West Bank and the dormancy of the peace process together may be increasing the risk of a deterioration of the conflict and an rise in violence on the West Bank in 2013. USIP’s continuing series on “sleeper risks” takes a closer look at this potentially explosive dynamic.
Prospects for Middle East Peace
Ahead of President Obama's trip to the Middle East, Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, USIP’s senior program officer working on issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict discusses broader context.
Will the Israeli Bombings in Syria Spark a Regional Crisis?
USIP’s Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen assesses the fallout from the Israeli air strikes in Syria, and the likelihood for an acute regional crisis. Israel has not formally confirmed its role in the two airstrikes on Syrian targets earlier this month, but unofficial Israeli acknowledgement, and intelligence corroboration (including from the U.S.) confirm that Israel was behind the bombings.
Fellow Robin Wright Recognized by the Overseas Press Club
On April 25, Robin Wright, noted author, journalist, and joint USIP-Woodrow Wilson Center fellow, was recognized by the Overseas Press Club (OPC) for her recent book Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Middle East. Wright received the OPC’s Cornelius Ryan Award, which recognizes the best non-fiction book on international affairs.
Political Upheaval in Israel
USIP’s Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen provides an update on the recent political upheaval in Israel and how that may impact the prospects for peace in the Middle East.