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.
Peace Agreements: Guinea-Bissau
Agreement Between the Government of Guinea Bissau and the Self-Proclaimed Military Junta (11-01-1998) Posted by USIP Library on: November 16, 1998 Source Name: Embassy of Guinea-Bissau, Washington, D.C. Date faxed: November 6, 1998
Removing Barricades in Somalia: Options for Peace and Rehabilitation
In summer 1997, a team of four Somali intellectuals and two American Africanists spent three weeks in Somalia on behalf of the United States Institute of Peace. The purpose of the visit was to assess the present circumstances and future prospects for peace and reconciliation in Somalia and to recommend how it might be appropriate for the United States, working with colleagues and institutions in Somalia and neighboring countries as well as within the larger donor community, to play a constru...
Angola's Last Best Chance for Peace
Since independence, Angola has witnessed twenty-plus years of civil war and a string of broken peace agreements. “It is not difficult to be a cynic about Angola,” notes Ambassador Paul Hare. Yet Hare and other dedicated diplomats have continued to persevere in their quest for a lasting solution to the Angolan conflict.
Elections and Conflict Management in Africa
Elections have emerged as one of the most important, and most contentious, features of political life on the African continent. In the first half of this decade, there were more than 20 national elections, serving largely as capstones of peace processes or transitions to democracies.
Preventing Genocide in Burundi: Lessons from International Diplomacy
Since 1993, interethnic violence between the 15 to 20 percent Tutsi minority and the 80 to 85 percent Hutu majority in Burundi has taken an estimated 150,000 lives. An examination of the international response to the crisis furnishes valuable lessons for peacemaking in Burundi and other areas of genocidal conflict.
Can Nigeria Make a Peaceful Transition to Democratic Governance?
On October 23, 1997, the United States Institute of Peace and the U.S. Department of State cosponsored a one-day roundtable discussion of diplomats, scholars, and nongovernmental organization specialists from the United States, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom on the current transition in Nigeria. The purpose was to assess the current sociopolitical conditions of Nigeria, evaluate the transition, and offer policy options for the United States.
Mozambique
By the time it ended in 1992, Mozambique's 15-year civil war had exacted a terrible price. Economically paralyzed, the vast, drought-stricken country was rich only in enmity, landmines, and AK-47s. Into this misery was thrust a multifaceted UN mission, ONUMOZ, to manage the transition from military combat to electoral contest. Remarkably, when ONUMOZ departed two years later, that job was largely done.
Zaire's Crises of War and Governance
On January 16, 1997, the United States Institute of Peace and the U.S. Department of State cosponsored a one-day roundtable discussion of diplomats, scholars, and nongovernmental organization specialists on the unfolding crises in Zaire-both the complex humanitarian emergency and civil war in eastern Zaire and the ongoing crisis of governmental legitimacy and capacity stemming from a lagging transition to multiparty democracy.
Managing Communications: Lessons from Interventions in Africa
"Managing Communications: Lessons from Interventions in Africa," the conference was jointly sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace and the National Defense University. It examined the effectiveness of communications and information-sharing practices (including organizational structures and technologies) among humanitarian and peacekeeping organizations in recent complex emergency operations in Somalia, Rwanda, and Liberia.
Zaire: Predicament and Prospects
For more than five years, the people of Zaire have struggled to survive in a state on the brink of utter collapse. Amid growing economic disarray and infrastructural breakdown, standards of living have plummeted, moral and ethical standards have withered, and violence has risen. Political authority is almost hopelessly fragmented and discredited.