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 West Should Help, Not Hinder, Russia’s Anti-war Exiles
As democracies defend Ukraine and themselves against Vladimir Putin’s project of a world governed by ruthless violence, a vital ally is Russia’s own civil society, now effectively crushed within Russia but energetic within the new exile community of antiwar Russians, most of them young and well educated.
Ambassador William Taylor on Zelenskyy’s U.S. Visit
With Ukraine’s counteroffensive making slow, grinding progress, President Zelenskyy will meet with U.S. officials this week in search of long-term assurances “that once he pushes the Russians out of his country, they won’t come back,” says USIP’s Ambassador William Taylor, adding: “The ultimate assurance … is membership in NATO.
Sameer Lalwani on the G20 Summit
At the G20 summit, the United States should focus on engaging with the Global South. “A lot of these countries are worried about bread-and-butter issues,” says USIP’s Sameer Lalwani. “In the absence of U.S. leadership at an institutional level … there’s going to be other actors that fill that vacuum.”
Why We Should Back Ukraine’s Diplomatic Long Game
A number of commentators have criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s latest peace summit in Jeddah for failing to produce tangible deliverables. What these criticisms miss is that Ukraine is playing a game of diplomatic attrition aimed at countering Russia’s central objective: international acquiescence to its violent seizure of a neighbor’s territory. The United States should support Ukraine’s efforts, most immediately by seeking a U.N.-sanctioned conference on the sidelines of next month's U.N. General Assembly session.
How Russia’s Military Bloggers Shape the Course of Putin’s War
Russian President Vladimir Putin relies on the manipulation of media narratives and limiting access to information to maintain popular support and acceptance of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine is advancing its peace plan. The U.S. can help.
While Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion has global attention on the battlefield, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government is also busy advancing a diplomatic initiative: a peace summit to build momentum and cohesion among international partners on its 10-point peace plan. The United States should be a leader in backing this diplomatic effort — which is on the agenda this weekend in multilateral talks in Saudi Arabia. Broadening international buy-in for Ukraine’s peace plan serves U.S. interests. It can short-circuit less constructive peace initiatives and reinforce a cardinal international norm: An aggressor that launches an unprovoked war can't expect to set the terms for peace afterward.
At Ukraine’s Edge, Russia Presses Hybrid War on Tiny Moldova
At a sensitive edge of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Moscow is sustaining a campaign to regain control in Moldova, the small, ex-Soviet republic landlocked between Ukraine and Romania. Russia has maneuvered for years to scuttle Moldovans’ aims to join the European Union, crimping their economy and controlling easternmost Moldova with Russian troops and proxies. A Kremlin-backed party won a Moldovan regional election in May and Moscow will aim to defeat Moldova’s pro-European national government in elections by 2025. The United States and its partners should urgently unify efforts to help Moldovans sustain their independence and stability.
Heather Ashby on Moscow’s Diplomatic Approach to the Russia-Africa Summit
After pulling out of a U.N.-backed grain deal, Russia may be looking for ways to ship more grain and fertilizers to African countries ahead of the Russia-Africa Summit. But the summit’s success is far from certain, “not only because of the war in Ukraine, but because Russia hasn’t lived up to its previous promises,” says USIP’s Heather Ashby.
One Vital Change Can Advance Long-Term Peace in Ukraine
While NATO’s recent summit consolidated the transatlantic consensus that a peaceful Europe requires a democratic and inclusive Ukraine, Ukrainians’ heroic struggle for that democracy must overcome old corruptions, plus new traumas inflicted by Vladimir Putin’s war. A pillar of any democracy is civil society — the constellation of citizens’ groups that, more than government, can understand and heal domestic conflicts. So as international partners support Ukraine’s rebuilding from war, we must urgently engage its vibrant civil society — not as a mere adjunct to government efforts, but as a primary designer and engine of the political and cultural changes that peace will require.
Russia Expands Its War on Ukraine — to Global Food Supplies
Russia’s Vladimir Putin has again made his invasion of Ukraine an effective war on global food supplies. Having scuttled the year-old deal to allow grain exports via the Black Sea, Putin is attacking Ukraine’s ports to cripple the ability of a major food grower to supply world markets. These actions immediately increased grain prices, holding the world’s poorest people hostage to Moscow’s demands. Putin’s new belligerence is likely to damage his efforts to build political support from China and the Global South. The United States should lead efforts to hold Russia accountable for any new hunger crises from these acts, and to press Putin to reverse this course.