The Current Situation in Papua New Guinea

The Current Situation in Papua New Guinea

Friday, March 8, 2024

As the United States reengages in the Pacific Islands, Papua New Guinea is emerging as an increasingly important U.S. partner. It is the region’s largest country, with a landmass about the size of California and a population estimated to be somewhere between 10 and 17 million. In April 2022, Papua New Guinea was designated as one of the focus countries under the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability (SPCPS). In May 2023, the United States and Papua New Guinea signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Type: Fact Sheet

How to Avert a Gang Takeover of Haiti

How to Avert a Gang Takeover of Haiti

Thursday, March 7, 2024

By: Nicolás Devia-Valbuena;  Keith Mines;  Kirk Randolph

Policymakers across the Western Hemisphere were shocked this weekend by news of a concerted effort by a coalition of gangs to attack Haiti’s key infrastructure, block the capital’s airport and prevent Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning from a trip abroad. After all, the analysis went, Henry’s position seemed cemented as the deadline of February 7 — when he was supposed to hand over power to an elected government — passed with no real challenges to his rule. Now, absent an inclusive transitional arrangement that can effectively govern, the possibility of total collapse and anarchy in Haiti is ever more real.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

How China Seeks to Dominate the Information Age

How China Seeks to Dominate the Information Age

Thursday, March 7, 2024

By: Dean Cheng

A combination of U.S.-China rivalry and China’s national security goals is driving Beijing to take a more assertive approach to the governance of international common spaces — from outer space to cyberspace. China’s leaders believe the world has transitioned from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. Consequently, Beijing sees the ability to generate, move, analyze and exploit information more rapidly and more accurately as the new currency of international power.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

Addressing Gendered Violence in Papua New Guinea: Opportunities and Options

Addressing Gendered Violence in Papua New Guinea: Opportunities and Options

Thursday, March 7, 2024

By: Negar Ashtari Abay, Ph.D.;  Kathleen Kuehnast, Ph.D.;  Gordon Peake, Ph.D.;  Melissa Demian, Ph.D.

Each year, more than 1.5 million women and girls in Papua New Guinea experience gender-based violence tied to intercommunal conflict, political intimidation, domestic abuse, and other causes. It is, according to a 2023 Human Rights Watch report, “one of the most dangerous places to be a woman or girl.” Bleak as this may seem, it is not hopeless. USIP’s new report identifies several promising approaches for peacebuilding programming to reduce gender-based violence and effect meaningful and lasting change in Papua New Guinea.

Type: Special Report

Gender

After Taiwan’s Election, China Is Now Ratcheting Up the Pressure

After Taiwan’s Election, China Is Now Ratcheting Up the Pressure

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

By: Jennifer Staats, Ph.D.;  Naiyu Kuo

Beijing is intensifying its pressure on Taiwan’s freshly elected president, William Lai Ching-te. Instead of relying on conventional military or economic pressures, however, Beijing has employed multifaceted tools of coercion to demonstrate disapproval of the January election results. Although China is carefully calibrating its behavior to avoid provoking Taipei or the United States, Beijing’s efforts to gradually change the status quo and erase the traditional boundaries between Taiwan and China could lead to escalated tensions and unintentional conflict.

Type: Analysis

Global Elections & ConflictGlobal Policy

A Perilous Moment for Bangladesh’s Democracy

A Perilous Moment for Bangladesh’s Democracy

Monday, March 4, 2024

By: Geoffrey Macdonald, Ph.D.

Bangladesh’s parliamentary elections in January cemented the country’s transition to a “dominant-party” political system. Aided by an opposition boycott on Election Day, the Awami League (AL) extended its 15 years in power with another five-year term, which will soon make Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, the world’s longest continuously serving female head of government in contemporary history. But political dominance comes with risk. Around the world, dominant-party systems often develop common maladies that harm the country’s governance. Ensuring competition across politics, government and the economy can forestall these problems.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & GovernanceGlobal Elections & Conflict

Increasing Stability in a Deterrence Relationship with North Korea

Increasing Stability in a Deterrence Relationship with North Korea

Monday, March 4, 2024

By: Adam Mount

A Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons remains a critical U.S. national security interest, but it is now a long-term interest. Because there is little possibility of disarming the regime in Pyongyang at an acceptable cost in the foreseeable future, the United States-South Korea alliance needs a strategy to coexist peacefully with a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

People’s Relations: Moving Between Taiwan and China

People’s Relations: Moving Between Taiwan and China

Monday, March 4, 2024

By: Emily Y. Wu

From 1945 to 1949, an estimated million-plus people from China arrived in Taiwan. The newcomers joined an existing population of 6 million, significantly changing the demographic makeup of modern Taiwan. In this episode, we look at the stories of some of those who arrived, and how perspectives of China differ among generations and those who travel back and forth.

Type: Podcast