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.
Ramadan Reflection: To Build Peace, We Need Muslim Women
Muslim women worldwide need to reclaim the place as leaders that the Islamic faith accorded them in its early centuries, USIP Acting Vice President Manal Omar told guests at a June 25 iftar celebration. And, she said, the world’s hope for a more just, peaceful future depends on their doing so.
Myanmar
Many countries have attempted to transition from authoritarian governments to democracies, with many false starts. The political transition that began in Myanmar with the elections of 2010 was heavily planned by military leaders to gradually move toward democratization while retaining many of the authoritarian structures of the previous government during the transition. As Myanmar’s success has attracted great interest and support from the international community, this study analyzes the elem...
How Not to Fight a Fanatic
The United States needs to take a wider view of whom it works with in its war against religious extremists.
Sources of Conflict: Religion or Economic and Political Power?
Religion is cited as the basis for too many conflicts that actually center more on competition over economic advancement and political power, according to David Smock, director of USIP’s Religion and Peacebuilding Center. In a discussion at the Rumi Forum, Smock and USIP colleagues Palwasha Kakar and Susan Hayward explored the role of religion in conflict and the institute’s work to unlock that dynamic.
Burma: Reaching Out to Heal Religious Ruptures
As Buddhist-Muslim violence ignites, a monk’s message reflects the pain on both sides and his journey demonstrates efforts to heal the rifts and staunch the spread of unrest.
Institute’s Hayward Discusses Human Rights at State
Susan Hayward, a senior program officer in USIP’s Religion and Peacemaking Center of Innovation spoke at the Marshall Center at the Department of State at a December 11 event marking International Human Rights Day.
Ambassador Johnson Cook, Specialists Consider Role of Civil Society in Religious Coexistence
The U.S. State Department’s “strategic dialogue” with international civil society, including faith leaders abroad, is underway and “planting seeds for the future” in fostering peaceful religious coexistence, Ambassador Suzan Johnson Cook, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on October 22.
Religion and Peacebuilding
The maturing field of religious peacebuilding faces challenges in integrating with secular peacebuilding efforts, engaging women and youth, and working more effectively with non-Abrahamic religious traditions.
Women in Religious Peacebuilding
To recognize and understand better the role of women in religious peacebuilding, the United States Institute of Peace, the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD), and Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs launched an initiative with a symposium on July 7 and 8, 2010, at Georgetown University. This report highlights the initiative’s main findings to date.
Averting Hell on Earth: Religion and the Prevention of Genocide
This report reflects on historic examples of the role of religious resources in supporting and mitigating the outbreak of genocide and mass atrocity. The main recommendations outline ways to counteract the use of religion to incite mass violence and to engage with religious communities in genocide prevention.