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. Africa Summit Leaders Face Weighty Agenda for Continent
President Barack Obama and African leaders attending the first U.S.-Africa Summit in Washington next month face an array of factors undermining the democratic development and economic growth achieved on the continent in recent decades, according to three former high-level U.S. officials on Africa who spoke at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
The Crowd Who Would Be King
Technology is connecting people all over the world, giving them new power and a stronger voice. But is it making government any better?
Corruption: Sleeper Threat to International Security
In non-violent uprisings and more full scale revolutions ranging from the Arab spring to the overthrow of the President in Ukraine, one common underlying propellant was rebellion against government corruption. The same fuel has fed continuing turmoil in post-revolutionary Libya and undercut Nigeria's fight against Boko Haram. Yet the role of acute corruption in fomenting protests and violence is underappreciated and makes Western efforts to combat it insufficient.
Why Do Youth Join Boko Haram?
Boko Haram’s recent kidnapping of over two hundred schoolgirls in Nigeria has once again brought the group into the international spotlight, making more urgent the questions about how to curtail its activities and the activities of other armed groups that threaten the security of Nigeria and the region. Drawing on the results of a 2013 study in six northern Nigerian states, this report addresses the question of how youth are radicalized and recruited into armed groups and what the Nigerian go...
Games for Change Seek to Connect Dots Towards Peace
In societies riven by conflict, Asi Burak hopes to pick up where inadequate education and news reports leave off. The award-winning co-creator of the PeaceMaker computer game outlined the triumphs and challenges of trying to advance social change with gaming technology, during a session at the U.S. Institute of Peace for the annual Alliance for Peacebuilding conference.
Girls’ Education Advances Security, USIP’s Kuehnast Tells House Foreign Affairs Panel
Expanding educational opportunities for women and girls around the world advances American and international security interests and should be part of a long-term strategy to prevent violent extremism, said Kathleen Kuehnast, director of the Center for Gender and Peacebuilding at the U.S. Institute of Peace, in a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Insights
The Insights newsletter is a new USIP publication that highlights the intersection between theory and practice in the peacebuilding field on a quarterly basis.
USIP Hosts International Gathering on Water Security and Conflict Prevention
Assuring access to water of adequate quantity and quality in the face of increasing challenges poses a growing risk of future conflicts. But in preventing any outbreak of conflict, better water management can play a vital role in building peace and cooperation, a variety of officials and specialists said at the Water Security and Conflict Prevention Summit held at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on September 10.
Obama’s Africa Trip Seizes on Progress to Trumpet Economic Potential
President Barack Obama’s first extended trip to Africa will seize on democratic and economic progress in the three countries on his itinerary – Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania – to inspire further advances across the continent and encourage more American companies to plunge in.
Nigeria’s State of Emergency May Spread Amid Violence, Politics
Experts say extremist violence and the government’s response are renewing and exacerbating tensions in multiple sections of the country, as political parties begin to jockey for position in the 2015 elections.