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.
USIP-Wilson Center Series on Arab Spring Impacts Concludes
In the last of a five-part series of papers and meetings on “Reshaping the Strategic Culture of the Middle East,” regional specialist Adeed Dawisha told an audience at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on June 12 that, contrary to some expectations, no clear political or ideological breach has opened up between the revolutionary states of the Arab Spring and the region’s status quo powers.
Libya Institute Accord Advances On-the-Ground Work for Transition
The U.S. Institute of Peace entered an agreement today with the Libya Institute for Advanced Studies (LIAS) to consolidate and formalize USIP’s work on the ground in helping strengthen Libya’s governing institutions and civil society.
Tunisia’s Ghannouchi Points to Country’s Democratic Advances, New Constitution
Tunisia’s dominant Islamist movement, which voluntarily ceded political power to a caretaker government last month, is intent on demonstrating “co-existence” between Islamists and secularists and “the compatibility of Islam” with democracy, human rights and consensus politics, the movement’s leader said at an informal meeting with specialists at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on February 24.
Egypt, Tunisia’s Opposite Paths Require Divergent Response, USIP’s Taylor Says
Egypt and Tunisia represent opposite ends of the spectrum in the evolution of their politics since the Arab Spring, U.S. Institute of Peace Vice President and former Ambassador Bill Taylor told a government panel this week. “Tunisia has demonstrated remarkable maturity and commitment to the ideal of political inclusiveness,” Taylor said. “Egypt has not.”
Islamist Party Leader Appeals for Aid to Bolster Tunisian Example of Moderation, Democracy
Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi, the founder of Tunisia’s Islamist party, appealed this week for U.S. political and economic support as his country struggles to complete its historic transition. Tunisia, the lone success story out of the Arab uprisings, could serve as an example for Iraq, Syria, Egypt and others, he said.
Q&A: Tunisia’s Upcoming Elections
Tunisia’s prospects for retaining its title as the only transition of the Arab Spring that hasn’t failed or collapsed into violence faces further tests this month and next, with important parliamentary elections scheduled for Oct. 26 and a presidential election on Nov. 23. USIP Acting President William B. Taylor, a former special coordinator for Middle East transitions in the State Department, considers what’s at stake.
Tunisian President: U.S. Is Key to Arab Political Futures
With only Tunisia evolving peacefully toward democracy from the Arab Spring movement of 2011, a broader democratization in the Arab world depends on continued U.S. engagement in the Middle East, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi told a May 20 public forum at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Q&A: Security and Democracy in Tunisia after Latest Attack
A Tunisian gunman recently massacred 38 people at the major resort of Sousse. It was the second mass attack this year, after the March 18 assault on the well-known Bardo Museum in the capital Tunis that killed 22 people, most of them tourists. U.S. Institute of Peace Special Advisor Daniel Brumberg explores the ramifications for Tunisia and the region, as the country shows determination to pursue a democratic transition.
Bring Back Our Democracy
Activist movements are changing the way that the world changes — and if the United States wants to help democracy abroad, it needs to update who it throws its weight behind.
In Tunisia, Economic Crisis Threatens Political Progress
The relative stability of Tunisia’s politics—achieved through a “national dialogue” whose mediators won the Nobel Peace Prize—is largely holding. Within a broad, governing coalition, Islamists, secularists, trade unions and employers all jockey for advantage in the usual democratic ways. But beneath the comparative calm, an economic crisis threatens the political gains of the only country building a democracy from the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.