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.
Prisons in Yemen
Since the 2011 Arab Spring crisis, Yemen has faced ongoing serious security sector challenges. Part of this reform effort is the country’s prison system, which this report—drawing on visits to thirty-seven facilities in six governorates—documents from a systems perspective. This report provides a more in-depth assessment of detention facilities and their role within larger rule of law challenges. Opportunities for prison reform are emerging, many well within reach. Arabic language version ava...
Participatory and Inclusive Constitution-Making
In the wake of the Arab Spring, citizens across the Middle East and North Africa are demanding reforms from their governments. How these governments respond to their people and promote inclusive constitution-making processes may determine whether their new social compacts lead to a durable peace. This report draws from the work of scholars and constitution makers who have been exchanging ideas about how to ensure that modern constitutions incorporate the needs and aspirations of the citizens ...
Q&A: Yemen on the Edge of Fracture?
Yemen’s path since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising has long seemed shaky, but this week’s events have created the most serious crisis facing the country in decades. With the government’s resignation, many observers fear the complete fragmentation and breakup of the state. Erica Gaston, a former senior program officer at the U.S. Institute of Peace, explains the ramifications.
Justice and Security Dialogue in Yemen
This report discusses the Justice and Security Dialogue (JSD) processes and activities which took place in the governorates of Abyan and Marib from early 2013 through early 2014. It details the research, planning, and implementation of context-driven dialogues, including outcomes, conclusions, and lessons learned.
Justice in Transition in Yemen
This research is part of a three-year United States Institute of Peace (USIP) project that explores how Yemen’s rule of law and local justice and security issues have been affected in the post-Arab Spring transition period. A complement to other analytical and thematic pieces, this large-scale mapping provides data on factors influencing justice provision in half of Yemen’s governorates. Its goal is to support more responsive programming and justice sector reform. Field research was managed b...
Dialoguing for Reconciliation in Yemen
The National Dialogue is an important milestone in Yemen’s transition. Following the broad grassroots revolution in Yemen that began in January 2011 and continued throughout that year, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) facilitated the transition of President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power. As part of the agreement brokered by GCC, an inclusive "National Dialogue" was held to discuss constitutional reform, key political roadblocks such as the question of southern independence and adoption of l...
Dispute Resolution and Justice Provision in Yemen’s Transition
Alternative dispute resolutions has long played an important role in Yemen. Since the Arab Spring protests and the transition that has followed, a growing number of Yemenis have utilized tribal and nontribal dispute resolution outside of the formal justice system due to fractures in state control and weakened state institutions. Because of this political instability, the tribal system has since weakened and new actors have emerged, causing the authority of both formal and informal actors to b...
Yemen in Transition: Between Fragmentation and Transformation
A combination of a domestic balance of weakness and concerted international mediation efforts moved Yemen away from the brink of civil war. Yet it must still bridge deep divisions among its many factions if its negotiated transition is to last.
Process Lessons Learned in Yemen’s National Dialogue
Yemen’s national dialogue has been lauded as a model for other countries in transition. While it succeeded in convening a broad range of Yemeni society on a host of issues, difficult key issues were left unresolved. Other countries embarking on national dialogues should learn from Yemen’s experience that they must balance the scale of the forum, the weight of the agenda, and the impact on other transitional processes that may be sidelined by a dialogue.
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.