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.
Nurturing Peace
Focusing on intrastate conflicts in which third parties have played prominent roles, Hampson argues that durable settlements depend on sustained third-party engagement not only during the negotiation phase but throughout the implementation process.
Humanitarian Assistance and Conflict in Africa
The good work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in recent conflicts in such countries as Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia is well known—providing food, shelter, medicine, and a host of other materials and services under extremely difficult conditions. But does humanitarian assistance in some cases actually exacerbate conflict?
Truth Commission: South Africa
Truth Commission: Commission of Truth and Reconciliation Duration: 1995 – 2002 Charter: Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No. 34 of 1995 Commissioners: 17 Report: Public report
State Building and Democracy in Southern Africa
South African political scientist Pierre du Toit probes the conditions under which democracy can grow. He examines three southern African states that, despite similarities, have very different track records: Botswana, perhaps the most successful democracy in continental Africa; Zimbabwe, where a partial democracy is faltering; and South Africa, just beginning it's bold experiment.
African Conflict Resolution
The U.S. Role in Peacemaking
Commission of Inquiry: Burundi
Commission of Inquiry: International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi Duration: 1995 - 1996 Charter: UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/1012 Commissioners: 5 Report: Public report
Somalia and Operation Restore Hope
“Somalia” has become a symbol for the unacceptable costs of humanitarian intervention, for the type of foreign involvement that should be avoided. But the authors of this timely book, themselves key participants in the U.S.-led operation there, argue that substantial good was done—the tide of famine was stayed, hundreds of thousands of lives saved, and steps toward political reconciliation begun.
Bargaining for Peace
South Africa and the National Peace Accord
Rwanda: Accountability for War Crimes and Genocide
Before 1994, Rwanda was the most densely populated country in continental Africa. Between April and August 1994, that statistic shifted radically, as Rwanda lost 20 percent to 40 percent of its population to slaughter or exile.
The U.S. Contribution to Conflict Prevention, Management, and Resolution in Africa
The failure of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Somalia (UNOSOM II) to build a new state in that war-ravaged country, after the costly U.S. military intervention is often viewed as a critical lesson about the problems associated with the international community's attempts to resolve conflict in Africa. Thus, when genocidal strife erupted in Rwanda in 1994, causing millions of Rwandans to flee into neighboring countries, there was a strong reluctance to allow U.S. forces to become e...