Women and Violent Extremism: A Growing Threat Demands Concerted Action

Women and Violent Extremism: A Growing Threat Demands Concerted Action

Monday, August 3, 2015

By: Fred Strasser

The extremist organization ISIS manipulates gender dynamics far better than its opponents often understand. It recruits young men with promises of control over women and uses mass rape as a form of cohesion. At the same time, it lures isolated women with appeals to enlarge their lives by joining a cause. Policymakers seeking to address the role of women in countering violent extremism must take an equally layered, multi-pronged approach to gender, according to experts from government, the Uni...

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismGender

Unlearning Violence: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Unlearning Violence: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Monday, July 27, 2015

By: Kathleen Kuehnast, Ph.D.

Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us that “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable…” So when we see steps toward justice and a narrative of hope returning to a country worn by violence and conflict, those of us in the peacebuilding field feel reinvigorated. We were fortunate to see an example on July 14, when the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo co-sponsored with USIP a discussion with that country’s Personal Representative of the President in Charge of the Fight Against Sexual Violence and Child Recruitment, Jeanine Mabunda Lioko Mudiayi.

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismGender

The Iran Nuclear Deal: Pitfalls and Promises

The Iran Nuclear Deal: Pitfalls and Promises

Friday, July 24, 2015

By: Cameron Glenn

The debate swirling around the historic nuclear deal reached by Iran and the world’s six major powers this month played out among two nuclear experts, a sanctions specialist and an Iran scholar during an event co-hosted by USIP at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars yesterday. The discussion outlined many of the issues that will top agendas in Washington and Tehran as lawmakers in both countries consider the agreement in the coming months.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionGlobal PolicyMediation, Negotiation & Dialogue

Nigeria's Buhari Presses for Military Aid, Pledges 'Zero Tolerance' for Corruption

Nigeria's Buhari Presses for Military Aid, Pledges 'Zero Tolerance' for Corruption

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

By: USIP Staff

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said his new government will “do what it takes” to defeat the extremist violence of Boko Haram, and he bluntly called on the U.S. to ease its restrictions on providing the weapons that his military needs to prevail in the fight. In an address at the U.S. Institute of Peace today, he also reaffirmed “zero tolerance” for corruption and pledged to restore trust in the country’s governance.

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismEnvironmentJustice, Security & Rule of LawEconomics

U.S.-Turkey Dialogue: Ideas to Curb the Spread of WMD

U.S.-Turkey Dialogue: Ideas to Curb the Spread of WMD

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

By: Daniel Brumberg

The strategic implications of the July 14 Vienna accords on Iran’s nuclear program are a matter of considerable concern not only to the Arab Gulf States and Israel, but also to the only Middle East/European member of NATO: Turkey. That country’s leaders must now assess the implications of the nuclear agreement for their own security, and even more so, for what has often been a rocky relationship with the United States.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionJustice, Security & Rule of LawMediation, Negotiation & DialogueGlobal Policy

Obama, in Africa, Will Need to Balance Agenda, Ex-Envoys Say

Obama, in Africa, Will Need to Balance Agenda, Ex-Envoys Say

Monday, July 20, 2015

By: USIP Staff

Six years after Barack Obama first visited sub-Saharan Africa as a presidential messenger of democracy, he faces a more complicated task in turning back to the continent next week. Obama hosts Nigeria’s new president, Muhammadu Buhari, on July 20, and then flies to Kenya and Ethiopia. As he does, the continent’s security threats and its urgent need to address ongoing poverty are forcing him to balance priorities and messages, say two former assistant secretaries of state now at the U.S. Insti...

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionViolent ExtremismEnvironmentEconomics

Q&A: Security and Democracy in Tunisia after Latest Attack

Q&A: Security and Democracy in Tunisia after Latest Attack

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

By: Daniel Brumberg

A Tunisian gunman recently massacred 38 people at the major resort of Sousse.  It was the second mass attack this year, after the March 18 assault on the well-known Bardo Museum in the capital Tunis that killed 22 people, most of them tourists. U.S. Institute of Peace Special Advisor Daniel Brumberg explores the ramifications for Tunisia and the region, as the country shows determination to pursue a democratic transition.

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismJustice, Security & Rule of Law

South Sudan’s Independence Day: No Cause for Celebration

South Sudan’s Independence Day: No Cause for Celebration

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

By: James Rupert

South Sudan, the world’s youngest state, marks four years of independence on July 9. But many South Sudanese, who struggled for that statehood for decades, are finding nothing to celebrate. When they won independence in 2011, the 11 million South Sudanese hoped that their new nation would let them develop their land in peace. Instead, it has plunged into civil war.

Type: Analysis

Human RightsDemocracy & Governance