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.
Traditional Authorities’ Peacemaking Role in Darfur
As broader peace efforts have faltered, the international community has increasingly focused on the capacity of local communities in Darfur to regulate conflict in their midst. This report examines the traditional justice system in Darfur and points to challenges facing traditional authorities, as well as how the system has adapted and evolved during the years of violent conflict.
Scenarios for Sudan
With Sudan's January 2011 referendum on independence for southern Sudan fast approaching, USIP hosted three workshops in April and May 2009 to develop scenarios focused on plausible developments over a two and a half year period.
Voting in Fear
In Voting in Fear, nine contributors offer pioneering work on the scope and nature of electoral violence in Africa; investigate the forms electoral violence takes; and analyze the factors that precipitate, reduce, and prevent violence. The book breaks new ground with findings from the only known dataset of electoral violence in sub-Saharan Africa, spanning 1990 to 2008. Specific case studies of electoral violence in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria provide the context to further un...
Civil Society in Darfur (Arabic Edition)
This report explores civil society’s role in Darfur's greater peace process, examines mediators’ efforts to harness civil society to date, and argues that civil society could be extremely useful to the peacemaking process, but only if its representatives to the process are carefully selected and properly involved in the process.
Customary Justice and the Rule of Law in War-Torn Societies
Customary Justice and the Rule of Law in War-Torn Societies presents seven in-depth case studies that take a broad interdisciplinary approach to the study of the justice system. Moving beyond the narrow lens of legal analysis, the cases—Mozambique, Guatemala, East Timor, Afghanistan, Liberia, Iraq, Sudan—examine the larger historical, political, and social factors that shape the character and role of customary justice systems and their place in the overall justice sector.
USIP Grant Supports Educational Briefing Series
With the support of a USIP grant, the Stimson Center's Congressional education briefing series, Security for a New Century (SNC), is convening a series of meetings on Capitol Hill that focus on issues critical to policymaking on Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Analyzing Post-Conflict Justice and Islamic Law
Post-conflict justice mechanisms such as truth commissions, war crimes tribunals and reparations programs have emerged as a fundamental building block of durable peace settlements in Latin America, Africa and Asia. They are relatively rare, however, in Muslim countries recovering from conflict—despite the fact that social and criminal justice is a fundamental principle of Islamic law.
USIP President Testifies Before Congress
Dr. Richard H. Solomon, president of the U.S. Institute of Peace, testified on the important role of USIP in national security affairs.
Scenarios for Sudan: Avoiding Political Violence Through 2011
More political violence will be hard to avoid in Sudan, barring a quick change in current trends, according to a new USIP report. Much of the outcome hinges on the handling of issues that involve the 2011 referendum on whether the South secedes from Sudan.
Negotiating Sudan's Post-Referendum Arrangements
With less than a year from Sudan’s key referendum on whether the South should secede, USIP considers how the international community can best manage the post-referendum process.