Question And Answer
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.
The Women in the Middle of the War
Rampant sexual assault has unmade allegiances in Syria's civil war -- and it may well get worse no matter which side wins.
In Syria, Avoid ‘Sudden Collapse’ of Assad Regime, Opposition Leader Says
As the United Nations begins a third attempt in as many years to guide a peace process in Syria’s civil war, the new head of the country’s Western-backed opposition coalition says Syrians should work to avoid any “sudden collapse of the regime in Damascus.” While the government of President Bashar al-Assad appears to be weakening, “the only power that can force the regime to negotiate is Iran,” said the Syrian National Coalition’s president, Khaled Khoja.
What to Do When Foreign Fighters Come Home
Not every Westerner who comes home after joining the Islamic State is a threat. But whether they ultimately live a life of peace or violence can be shaped by what they find when they get back.
You Can’t Fight What You Don’t Understand
Is the violent extremism that's fueling the Islamic State something new?
Women and Violent Extremism: A Growing Threat Demands Concerted Action
The extremist organization ISIS manipulates gender dynamics far better than its opponents often understand. It recruits young men with promises of control over women and uses mass rape as a form of cohesion. At the same time, it lures isolated women with appeals to enlarge their lives by joining a cause. Policymakers seeking to address the role of women in countering violent extremism must take an equally layered, multi-pronged approach to gender, according to experts from government, the Uni...
Europe’s Refugee Flood Shows Urgent Need for Action on Middle East
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley joined U.S. Institute of Peace President Nancy Lindborg, a U.K. foreign secretary-turned humanitarian advocate and other experts in calling for U.S., European and other world leaders to accelerate assistance to refugees in the Middle East and reinvigorate efforts to end the conflicts that drive them out of their homes in the first place.
Four Lessons for Fighting Extremists – Without Guns
As the military campaign against the Islamic State stalls, it's time to turn to a civilian solution.
Too Little Aid, Too Many Displaced: Remaking Humanitarian Assistance
The international system to aid people displaced by conflict is strained beyond the breaking point. Faced with the greatest flood of displacement since World War II—and with no end in sight—governments and international organizations need to rethink every level of aid, from funding to future outcomes, according to experts assessing the crisis in a discussion at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Q&A: Russia’s Intervention in Syria
Russia’s military involvement in Syria has further complicated a four-year-long civil war that the United Nations says has killed more than 250,000 people and driven half the population from their homes. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad just visited Moscow, his first trip outside Syria since the conflict began in 2011 – to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Elie Abouaoun, director of Middle East programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, considers the ramifications, the prospects for r...
Syria: Regional Fallout from the Civil War
In the first in a USIP series on “sleeper risks” in 2013, possible regional effects of Syria’s civil war are examined. If the regime of Bashar Al-Assad falls back into an Alawite-dominated area under intensifying rebel pressure, the fragmentation of the Syrian state could encourage Kurdish and other separatism, raising questions about the post-Ottoman state system in the Levant.