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.
Chinese Views: Breaking the Stalemate on the Korean Peninsula
Drawing on two international conferences recently held in China, this report explores the influences relationships such as that between the U.S. and China have on the Korean peninsula.
Media and Conflict: Afghanistan as a Relative Success Story
The development of media in post-Taliban Afghanistan has been relatively successful. However, such development remains incomplete and still faces many challenges. Hence, the international community must continue to assist and support these efforts.
From Rejection to Acceptance: Israeli National Security Thinking and Palestinian Statehood
Israeli national thinking on Palestinian statehood has gone from total rejection to broad acceptance. How will this evolving thinking play a role in restarting Israel-Palestinian negotiations?
Conflict-Sensitive Approach to Infrastructure Development
What is the nexus between conflict analysis and building infrastructure? What roles can new and upgraded buildings, highways, and the like play in winning the "battle for hearts and minds?" How can the U.S. government streamline processes aimed to facilitate infrastructure development in conflict zones?
Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq
In January 2007, President Bush announced that the United States would double the number of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), small civilian-military units that assist provincial and local governments to govern effectively and deliver essential services, as part of his plan for a "New Way Forward" in Iraq. This report examines the U.S. experience with PRTs in Iraq, notes shortcomings, and suggests ways they could be more effective.
The Aceh Peace Process: Nothing Less than Success
An EU-led mission completed its mandate of monitoring and supporting the peace process in the Indonesian province of Aceh on December 15, 2006. This report looks at the reasons for the successful outcome of the Aceh peace process, which offers useful lessons for peace implementation elsewhere.
Political Progress in Iraq During the Surge
Rend Al-Rahim Francke concludes that the military surge has bettered the security situation in Baghdad. However, political progress has faltered and not matched these improvements.
Employment Generation and Economic Development in Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations
It seems logical that improving the lives of those who have suffered from conflict would include a program to generate economic well-being in the immediate period after hostilities subside. Yet livelihood creation, the root of potential economic success and security, has often become a secondary objective in the transformation from war to peace.
Personal Transformations: Moving from Violence to Peace
Behavioral scientists have devoted considerable attention to religious extremism and the psychological factors that contribute to an individual’s propensity toward violence. However, relatively little data are available on those who abandon extremism and become proponents of conciliation and peace. Dr. Renee Garfinkel offers a number of tentative conclusions about individuals she has interviewed who have made this transition.
Some Assembly Required: Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement
While Sudan has recently reached a Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) between the northern and southern regions, tensions still smolder. As commonoly said, "The devil is in the details," in implementation of the accord. To identify lessons learned from the negotiation of the agreement from 2002 to 2005 and its implementation since then, USIP conducted a project, the conclusions of which are discussed in this special report.