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.
U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission Convenes at USIP
USIP hosts the seventh meeting of the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission commenced June 4, drawing senior U.S. and Nigerian officials to consider future steps in a deepening relationship between the United States and Africa’s most populous nation.
What Is Boko Haram?
The group Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda’Awati Wal Jihad, known the world over as Boko Haram, is an extremist Islamic sect in Nigeria that has created havoc across the north of the country and in the capital, Abuja. Its violent attacks on government offices, the United Nations, and churches threaten to destabilize the country. A range of conflicting narratives has grown up around Boko Haram, and the group’s origins, motivations, and future plans remain a matter of debate. This report addresses t...
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman on Challenges and Opportunities in Africa
As six of the world’s ten fastest growing countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, the United States must help develop the potential and strengthen mutually beneficial partnerships with African nations, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman told a packed auditorium at the U.S. Institute of Peace on March 28.
Empowering Local Peacebuilders
Peacebuilding operations in conflict and post-conflict societies often undermine local capacity, ownership, and sustainability. The acknowledged remedy is to empower local actors to take the lead in planning and implementing programs, but few empowerment strategies that work in practice have been documented and explained.
Need for International Peacekeeping Missions on the Rise
The Arab League this month called for the U.N. Security Council to approve a joint Arab-U.N. peacekeeping mission in Syria, where more than 5,400 people have died as the regime of Bashar al-Assad presses a brutal military crackdown on a popular uprising in Homs and other cities. Russia and China vetoed an earlier Security Council resolution on Syria, and it is not clear how seriously the recent Arab League proposal will be considered. The Arab League has scrapped its monitoring mission in Syr...
From Nigeria to Iraq: USIP Mediation in Conflicts
In a period of tremendous change in parts of the world, we are asking USIP leaders, from board members to senior staff and experts, to explain the effects that events abroad and here at home will have on the United States, and the contributions the Institute can and does make. David Smock is currently the senior vice president for USIP’s Centers of Innovation.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Lays Out Ambitious New Agenda for Country
Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, visited the U.S. Institute of Peace on September 29 to lay out President Goodluck Jonathan’s agenda.
Preventing Conflict through Participatory Urban Planning in the Niger Delta: CMAP
In Port Harcourt, Nigeria's oil capital and third-largest city, up to 480,000 people living in the waterfront areas of the city face the threat of demolition from the Rivers State government. One third of the city, and 79% of Nigeria's urban population, lives in what the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) defines as “slum conditions.” Mass demolitions, even the threat of mass demolition, poses the possibility of sparking widespread conflict in a country that provides almo...
Nigeria’s 2011 Elections: Best Run, but Most Violent
Nigeria’s 2011 elections were the most violent yet—claiming 800 lives in three days. Breaking the cycle of violence includes ending impunity for political violence, cultivating local peacebuilding initiatives and strengthening local democratic institutions.
A Manual to Facilitate Conversations on Religious Peacebuilding and Reconciliation
USIP has found the documentary film "The Imam and the Pastor" useful as a resource for workshops and training programs exploring themes of religious peacebuilding and inter-group reconciliation. As such, we commissioned religion and peacebuilding specialist David Steele to produce a facilitator’s manual so that others might use this documentary, and the follow-up documentary "An African Answer," in their own training and workshops.