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.
What’s at Stake in Guatemala’s Election Pause?
Guatemalan voters defied predictions on June 25 by sending an anti-corruption crusader to runoff elections for the country’s presidency. Bernardo Arévalo, a professorial lawmaker and former diplomat, placed second in a crowded field, earning a place in the final round on August 20 against perennial presidential candidate and former First Lady, Sandra Torres.
¿Qué está en juego luego de la pausa electoral en Guatemala?
El 25 de junio, los votantes guatemaltecos desafiaron las predicciones y enviaron a un líder anticorrupción a la segunda vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales. Bernardo Arévalo, catedrático de derecho y exdiplomático, quedó en segundo lugar en un campo muy competido, ganándose un puesto en la ronda final del 20 de agosto contra la eterna candidata presidencial y ex primera dama, Sandra Torres.
There is a Path Forward in Haiti — But It’s Not the One We Are On
There are few international crises where the tension between international assistance and locally led solutions is in greater conflict than Haiti. Failure to get that balance right goes a long way toward explaining the failure to solve the crisis for the two long years since the assassination of Haiti’s president. The country has a long list of needs, including on pressing, immediate issues like food security, health care, rampant gang violence and education. Ultimately, Haiti needs a credible and transparent election to reset its political system. But the functioning transitional government it requires is something that can best be achieved through an assertive political process that blends outside assistance with independent local actors, bringing together all key stakeholders under international facilitation.
Il y a une voie à suivre en Haïti - mais ce n'est pas celle que nous suivons
Il existe peu de crises internationales où la tension entre l'aide internationale et les solutions locales est plus conflictuelle qu'en Haïti. L'incapacité à trouver un juste équilibre explique en grande partie l'incapacité à résoudre la crise au cours des deux longues années qui ont suivi l'assassinat du président haïtien. Le pays a une longue liste de besoins, y compris sur des questions urgentes et immédiates telles que la sécurité alimentaire, les soins de santé, la violence endémique des gangs et l'éducation. En fin de compte, Haïti a besoin d'une élection crédible et transparente pour réinitialiser son système politique.
Displaced to Cities: Conflict, Climate Change, and Rural-to-Urban Migration
Countries as geographically diverse as Honduras, Jordan, and Pakistan are experiencing a common challenge—rapid growth in urban populations as conflict and climate-induced disasters push people from rural areas into cities. This report examines the effects of this increased urban migration on both the migrants and the urban environment, as well as the challenges policymakers face. It offers recommendations to help meet the needs of growing urban populations and develop adaptive, resilient systems to better withstand the impacts of climate change and conflict.
Brazil’s Lula Looks to Revive Regional Cooperation — But He’s Got Critics
As the leader of Brazil, South America’s largest country — biggest by far in area, population and GDP —President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has enormous clout and the ambition to match. Six months into his third term in office (after a 12-year absence) the gregarious Brazilian leader — known around the world simply as “Lula” — has jumped eagerly back onto the world stage as a champion of the Global South.
Lula busca reactivar la cooperación regional – pero tiene detractores
Como líder de Brasil, el país más grande de Sudamérica – tanto en términos de tamaño, población y PIB – el presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tiene una enorme influencia, así como una ambición de igual escala. Tras seis meses de su tercer mandato (luego de 12 años de ausencia), el gregario líder brasileño – conocido a nivel mundial simplemente como "Lula" – ha saltado de nuevo con ansias al escenario mundial, mostrándose como el líder del Sur Global.
Keith Mines on the Crises in Venezuela and Haiti
While Haiti’s and Venezuela’s political, security and humanitarian situations remain dire, there are promising regional efforts underway to address both countries’ crises. While “the U.S. is looking for someone else to take the lead” on these situations, “there are things at play that are encouraging and at some point are going to need very tangible U.S. support,” says USIP’s Keith Mines.
Earth’s best defenders are Indigenous. They pay a price: violence.
Little noted by the world, warfare in India’s northeastern state of Manipur this spring has killed hundreds of Indigenous people and uprooted more than 35,000 residents. This violence along the India-Myanmar border fits a global pattern, also little noted: For decades, some 80 percent of human conflicts have smoldered in the “biodiversity hotspots” where our planet’s flora and fauna are most threatened by battles for resources and wealth — and where Indigenous peoples suffer the violence while protecting humanity’s common ecological heritage. We should strengthen the world’s inadequate public attention and policies on this crisis, and 2023 offers a chance to do so.
Colombian Civic Leader Offers a Grassroots Strategy for Peace
Nine months into new efforts by Colombia’s administration to achieve “total peace” with remaining armed groups following decades of civil war, that process should make room for the nation’s thousands of grassroots and community organizations to strengthen peace locally when the fighting stops, says a prominent civic leader from one of the country’s most violent regions. Stabilizing Colombia, where migration toward the United States and other countries soared last year, will require steady support from U.S. and international partners, said Maria Eugenia Mosquera Riascos, who helps lead a Colombian network of 140 civic and community organizations working to end violence.