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Understanding and Extending the Marrakesh Declaration in Policy and Practice

Understanding and Extending the Marrakesh Declaration in Policy and Practice

Friday, September 30, 2016

In January 2016, the Marrakesh Declaration was issued by Muslim scholars and politicians as a concerted response to the persecution of and violence against minorities in Muslin-majority countries. This report, published with the Cambridge Institute on Religion and International Studies, provides background on the Marrakesh Declaration and recommendations to those from both Muslim and non-Muslim majority contexts to ensure the Declaration’s implementation and legitimacy.

Type: Special Report

ReligionDemocracy & Governance

Peres, in Pursuit of Peace, Advanced Power of the People

Peres, in Pursuit of Peace, Advanced Power of the People

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Shimon Peres served twice as Prime Minister of Israel and most recently as President. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, along with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, for securing the Oslo peace accords, and he never stopped believing in the agreement’s principals and main contours for a two-state solution.  

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionReligionMediation, Negotiation & Dialogue

The Islamic State In Pakistan

The Islamic State In Pakistan

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

The Islamic State, or Daesh, has moved its influence beyond Iraq and Syria, formally establishing its Khorasan branch in Central Asia in January 2015. This brief explores Daesh in Pakistan, how its ideology can influence both existing and potential militants, and what a comprehensive response from the Pakistani government would involve.

Type: Peace Brief

Violent ExtremismReligionDemocracy & Governance

Nigeria’s Powerful Governors Eye Roots of Boko Haram

Nigeria’s Powerful Governors Eye Roots of Boko Haram

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Governors from northern Nigeria, where the U.S. military is helping quell the Boko Haram militant group, will convene at the U.S. Institute of Peace for the second time this October to agree on civilian actions they can take to address the root causes of violent extremism and help ensure that efforts to stabilize this vital region will stick. Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson, a USIP senior advisor helping organize the gathering, said Nigerian governors are some of the m...

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismMediation, Negotiation & DialogueReligionJustice, Security & Rule of Law

Refugee Crisis Threatens Global Stability, Power Says

Refugee Crisis Threatens Global Stability, Power Says

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power called on the international community—including the American public—to step up its response to the greatest refugee crisis since World War II, saying that failure to act may destabilize fragile states, strengthen organized crime and bolster the arguments of violent extremists that the West is at war with Islam.

Type: Analysis

Fragility & ResilienceViolent ExtremismReligionGlobal Policy

USIP Iftar: Don’t Just Tolerate Diversity, Embrace It

USIP Iftar: Don’t Just Tolerate Diversity, Embrace It

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

The traditional Muslim call to prayer echoed across USIP’s atrium yesterday evening as the institute ushered in its third annual Iftar, marking the breaking of the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan. But it wasn’t just one imam’s voice. Instead, five Muslim clerics and a poetry reader from six traditions—Senegalese, Syrian, Pakistani, Iranian, Turkish and Moroccan—represented the theme of the event: The Islamic Mosaic.

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismReligion

Dalai Lama Urges Greater Compassion, Role for Youth

Dalai Lama Urges Greater Compassion, Role for Youth

Monday, June 13, 2016

A day after the United States’ deadliest-ever mass shooting, the Dalai Lama led a Washington audience in a silent prayer for peace. But he said prayers will be ineffective without “serious action” to erode religious and other communal divisions. Building peace in and among nations requires improved education, leadership by youth and women, and “personal contact” among people of disparate groups, the Buddhist spiritual leader said. “We have to live on this small planet… with a sense of brother...

Type: Analysis

ReligionYouth

Iraq Operation to Recapture Mosul Needs Plan for Aftermath

Iraq Operation to Recapture Mosul Needs Plan for Aftermath

Thursday, April 14, 2016

The planning taking place to recapture Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, from the “Islamic State,” or ISIS, extremist group should involve not only meticulous military preparations but also careful thought to ensuring a peaceful aftermath is sustainable over the long term, said Qubad Talabani, the deputy prime minister of the country’s Kurdish region, which has helped lead the drive to end the extremist organization’s hold on vast swaths of territory. But the Kurdistan Regional Government (K...

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismReligionReconciliationFragility & Resilience