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.
Lifting the Pall Over Afghanistan’s 2014 Election: A Fresh Look at 2009
Afghanistan’s 2009 elections are often viewed as extremely fraudulent and as having produced an illegitimate outcome. However, despite many challenges, the 2009 elections were in some ways a success, and produced a legitimate outcome that adhered to the constitution and the country’s electoral laws. There is an opportunity now, before the 2014 elections in Afghanistan, to learn from these elections.
Pakistan Election Victory for Sharif May Spur Change, Experts Say
USIP’s Andrew Wilder and Moeed Yusuf and other experts say broad support for the prime minister, combined with local wins by key opponents, might generate the right combination to force tough decisions that could move Pakistan forward.
USIP Meeting Examines Kenya’s Peaceful Elections
A May 21 panel at USIP assessed the reasons for a largely peaceful election this year in Kenya, where more than 1,000 people had been killed in post-election violence in 2007-08.
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.
Prospects for Syrian No-fly Zone Assessed at USIP
USIP gathered specialists on the Syrian civil war to consider the requirements and challenges of establishing a proposed no-fly zone to protect civilians and weaken Syrian military capabilities.
USIP-Wilson Center Series on Arab Spring Impacts Concludes
In the last of a five-part series of papers and meetings on “Reshaping the Strategic Culture of the Middle East,” regional specialist Adeed Dawisha told an audience at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on June 12 that, contrary to some expectations, no clear political or ideological breach has opened up between the revolutionary states of the Arab Spring and the region’s status quo powers.
Sustainable Security in Yemen: Popular Committees in Abyan
In early 2011, as the Arab Spring protests swept through Yemen and crippled government control even in more urban areas Ansar al-Sharia (AAS), a local Islamic militant group affiliated with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), began to take control of major areas of the far southeastern governorate of Abyan. This not only posed a serious threat to local residents but also to those beyond Yemen’s borders. With Abyan in the control of AAS and beyond government reach, Abyan risked becoming ...
Syria Leaves U.S., EU Uncertain How to Meet Pledge to Prevent Atrocities
Despite pledges to carry out the principle of the responsibility to protect against mass killings, the U.S. and the EU have struggled how to respond to Syria, even as the scale of human loss eclipses that of Libya before the international community intervened. A USIP panel considers how to move forward.
At USIP, Zimbabwe’s Beatrice Mtetwa Describes Repression, Legal Challenges
Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, who has defended peace activists, journalists, opposition candidates, farmers and ordinary citizens arrested and prosecuted by the government of Robert Mugabe, appeared at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on April 25, discussing her ongoing efforts to use the country’s laws and court system to defend clients against politically-motivated charges that seem aimed at deterring opponents to Mugabe’s three decades of rule.
Zimbabwe’s—and Mtetwa’s—Troubles Grow as Next Mugabe Term Begins
He has held power in Zimbabwe for a third of a century, and today Robert Mugabe was re-inaugurated as president of the southern African nation—the result of a recent election that was free of violence but marred by widespread voting irregularities.