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 Conferences Don’t Always Work” and Other Lessons for Achieving Sustainable Peace in South Sudan and Sudan
The recent re-eruption of political violence in South Sudan in late 2013 has not only inflamed long-standing and unresolved local grievances, but also highlights the critical need to improve the impact and sustainability of local peace processes in any region. In the new Peaceworks, “Local Peace Processes in Sudan and South Sudan,” USIP’s Jacqueline H. Wilson outlines the importance of understanding and improving local peace processes.
Local Peace Processes in Sudan and South Sudan
Sudan and South Sudan have seen numerous local peacebuilding efforts in recent years, yet violence continues largely unabated. Using the Western Corridor as a case study, this report outlines the importance of understanding and improving local peace processes through an architecture that begins with conflict analysis, entails a common vision, and focuses on achieving specific objectives. Also essential to the success of the process is including the right people—those with authority, with know...
Sudan – A Conversation with Former Special Envoy Princeton Lyman: Part 3
Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman served as U.S. special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan from March 2011 to March 2013 before joining the U.S. Institute of Peace as a senior adviser to the USIP president. Arif Omer, the first to hold a new four-month Sudanese youth leader residency at USIP, interviewed Lyman at length on the violence and political conflicts that have torn the African country for decades. The edited interview is being presented on The Olive Branch this week in three parts -- efforts to encourage a national dialogue, Sudan’s relations with the West and what the future holds for the conflict-torn nation.
Sudan – A Conversation with Former Special Envoy Princeton Lyman: Part 2
Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman served as U.S. special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan from March 2011 to March 2013 before joining the U.S. Institute of Peace as a senior adviser to the USIP president. Arif Omer, the first to hold a new four-month Sudanese youth leader residency at USIP, interviewed Lyman at length on the violence and political conflicts that have torn the African country for decades. The edited interview is being presented on The Olive Branch this week in three parts -- efforts to encourage a national dialogue, Sudan’s relations with the West and what the future holds for the conflict-riven nation.
Sudan – A Conversation with Former Special Envoy Princeton Lyman
Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman served as U.S. special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan from March 2011 to March 2013 before joining the U.S. Institute of Peace as a senior advisor to the USIP president. Arif Omer, the first to hold a new four-month Sudanese youth leader residency at USIP, interviewed Lyman at length on the violence and political conflicts that have torn the African country for decades. The edited interview is being presented on The Olive Branch this week in three parts -- efforts to encourage a national dialogue, Sudan’s relations with the West and what the future holds for the conflict-torn nation.
Peace Education in Sudan? Not as Unlikely as it Might Sound
Nothing prepared me for the coffee-black water coming out of the taps. It happened just as a large and delicious breakfast was set out for us in a compound dining room and we were starting to wash our hands in sinks at the side. Sudden, dark, and a bit shocking, the water seemed like a betrayal of all the honest hospitality of our generous hosts. We quickly shifted to washing with bottled water and proceeded without further disruption. Still, the image of that dirty water where clean water had flowed before seemed like a sign that something larger was badly broken.
USIP Examines Sudan National Dialogue in Online Discussion
Several Sudanese experts joined Institute specialists for a wide-ranging, online-only discussion of prospects for launching a national dialogue in Sudan that could provide the basis for new, political arrangements, possibly including a new constitution and renewed efforts to peacefully address the country’s violent, internal political conflicts.
The 'Dark Matter’ of Peacebuilding
While reading a recent issue of Popular Science magazine, I was captivated by an article on “dark matter.” Scientists are trying to wrap their minds around the 85 percent of the universe we cannot yet see or understand. But what struck me were the parallels with the challenges of peacebuilding – the idea that conflict also may be 85 percent “dark matter,” requiring peacebuilders to probe more deeply as we practice our craft.
Debate Lessons
What can we learn from other peace processes that could help ease the negotiations in Geneva this January between the Syrian government and the country's fractured opposition? Many seasoned practitioners would argue that since no two conflicts are alike, it is dangerous to assume that what worked in managing one conflict will work in another. At the risk of proving the skeptics right, however, there are a few areas in which earlier conflicts might provide useful lessons for Geneva: identity i...
Food Insecurity’s Impact on Conflict Merits a Closer Look
A new report from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars illuminates the connections between conflict and food insecurity admirably, even as it recognizes that considerable work remains to be done on how food-related problems actually promote or alter conflict.