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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.
Myanmar’s Crisis Looms Over the ASEAN Summit
This week, Indonesia hosted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and its related meetings with dialogue partners, including the East Asia Summit, in Jakarta. The three-day affair was bogged down by the bloc’s continued inability to sort through internal divisions over member-state Myanmar’s 2021 military coup, which has allowed the ruling junta’s violence and support for criminal enterprises to fester into transnational problems. Meanwhile, the absence of several leaders from major ASEAN partners, such as China’s Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden, further dampened proceedings.
At G20, India Tests Geopolitical Clout Amid Xi’s Absence
World leaders from the Group of 20 (G20) gather this weekend in New Delhi, India, for the intergovernmental forum’s annual summit. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aiming to leverage the summit to showcase India’s growing international influence. The summit will be center stage for the emerging divisions in world politics and for major powers’ efforts to woo the Global South. Yet, despite this competition, China’s Xi Jinping has opted to not attend the summit in what many see as a snub to rival India. The White House has said it will come to the summit with a “value proposition” for the Global South, focused on multilateral development reform, climate financing, debt relief and technology.
70 Years After the Armistice, the Korean Peninsula Still Struggles for Peace
On July 27, 1953, military commanders from the United States, North Korea and China signed an armistice agreement that ended the hostilities of the Korean War. The parties agreed to a “complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force until a final peaceful settlement is achieved.” They also recommended holding a “political conference” within three months for “the peaceful settlement of the Korean question.” After 70 years of truce, however, peace on the Korean Peninsula is still elusive.
U.S.-China Competition Presents Vietnam with Risks and Opportunities
In recent years as U.S.-China strategic competition has ramped up, Southeast Asia has been one of the key domains where this rivalry is playing out. Vietnam is the only Southeast Asian country that has suffered from direct military confrontations with several major powers. It suffered at the height of the Cold War, and also when the major powers entangled and realigned their relationships when geostrategic factors shifted, such as when the United States and China improved ties in the early 1970s. So, Vietnam is especially sensitive to this intensifying strategic competition and attuned to the impact on its relationships with major powers.
As Violent Extremism Evolves, Local Partners are Key in Finding Solutions
In the 22 years since the 9/11 attacks, the global community has grappled with how best to respond to, prevent and address violent extremism and its impacts, including acts of terrorism. Policymakers and practitioners alike have recognized the need to avoid overly repressive measures, so significant investment has gone into a version of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) that adopts a less-securitized approach alongside an array of peacebuilding, development and public health tools.
Searching for Peace in Solomon Islands
In recent years, the Pacific nation of Solomon Islands has been in the news for its controversial and secretive security pact with China. However, Solomon Islands’ peace and security is contingent on far more than treaties and its current prime minister’s shifting geopolitical allegiances.
Two Years of the Taliban’s ‘Gender Apartheid’ in Afghanistan
Two years after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the human rights situation in the country is abysmal, with women and girls experiencing the worst of the regime’s policies. There is growing evidence that the Taliban are committing the crime against humanity of gender persecution of women and girls, an assertion Human Rights Watch made in a new report. This summer, the World Economic Forum slated Afghanistan last of the 146 countries it ranked in a study on gender gaps. The scope of the Taliban’s women’s rights restrictions is truly unprecedented.
In Earth’s Climate Crisis, Africa Demands a Fairer Sharing of Costs
Earth’s intensifying storms, heat, droughts and floods underscore that humanity is falling behind in its race against climate change. With global powers and institutions still debating how to transform economies and share the costs of surviving a destabilizing climate, the planet’s most vulnerable continent managed partial advances this month toward a regional consensus. The first-ever Africa Climate Summit amplified demands for a robust, fairer collective response to a warming planet — but fell short of forging a unified African position. Critically, it missed a chance to outline a strategy for dealing with the combined impacts of climate and violent conflicts.
How Small States Navigate U.S.-China Rivalry: The Case of Cambodia
Amid growing distrust and an intensifying systemic rivalry, U.S.-China relations are at the lowest point in decades. In Washington, the last three U.S. administrations have sought to balance, challenge and counter China’s rises in Asia. In Beijing, revisionist leader Xi Jinping’s regime has an ambitious plan for “national rejuvenation” and views the United States as the major strategic threat to China’s ambitions. Countries like Cambodia are caught in between.
Afghanistan’s Two Years of Humanitarian Crisis Under the Taliban
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 immediately exacerbated the country’s precarious humanitarian situation, leaving millions in need of food assistance and other support. Two years later, the situation remains dire, with Afghan women and girls acutely affected by the Taliban’s draconian restrictions on their daily lives. The international community continues to struggle to find a balance between providing desperately needed aid while also pressuring the regime in Kabul to moderate its hardline policies. While Afghans need emergency assistance, the country will continue to deal with cycles of crises until its deep-seated economic challenges are addressed.