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.
How Afghanistan Can Avoid Another Fiscal Crisis
Afghanistan’s last presidential election, in 2014, was followed by—and arguably precipitated—a fiscal crisis, which brought the country to the verge of fiscal collapse. What are the lessons that should be learned from the 2014 experience, and what can be done to avoid a repeat in 2019, which would be even more disastrous?
Ten Years After the Mayhem in Mumbai, is South Asia any Safer?
Moeed Yusuf discusses the impact of the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India, on the India-Pakistan relationship, crisis management in South Asia and the future of terrorism in the region.
What Can World War I Teach Us About Peacebuilding Today?
Fragility is not simply a phenomenon concentrated in a limited number of states at the periphery of rich and powerful ones. It also extends to the interconnections between richer countries and the governance structures of the very international institutions meant to support countries with particularly acute problems of governance.
To Aid South Sudan’s Cease-fire, Increase Transparency
In the last five years, international monitors in South Sudan have documented more than 100 violations of the country’s numerous cease-fire agreements. A new analysis of the monitors’ data published from April 2014 to August 2018 demonstrates how the conflict changed as the government’s military position strengthened.
Can Soft Power Work in a Sharp Power World?
Speaking at USIP’s seventh Bipartisan Congressional Dialogue, Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) discussed the threat posed by sharp power to global stability and how the United States, through bipartisan efforts, could use soft power to counter this threat.
The Risk of Election Violence in Nigeria is Not Where You Think
Nigeria’s political parties are in full campaign mode ahead of national and state-level elections early next year, and unfortunately signs are emerging that election-related violence is a real possibility. It’s not too late, however, for Nigerians and the international community to take steps to reduce the risks of coercion and possibly even bloodshed.
How to Secure Afghanistan’s Future
From a diplomatic and process standpoint, Geneva Conference on Afghanistan was generally seen as a success by participants (though some countries were not represented at the minister level), and the Afghan government showcased the progress it made in implementing reforms and national priority programs over the past two years. But what did the GCA accomplish substantively, what was left undone, and what questions were left unanswered?
Russia’s War on Ukraine Roils the Orthodox Church
Russia failed to anticipate that its invasion of Ukraine in 2014 would cost it one of its most powerful levers of influence over its neighbor: the formal authority of the Russian Orthodox Church over its Ukrainian counterpart. But it has done so, and that unintended consequence could lead to others: a decline in Russian influence within the Eastern Orthodox world, a deeper division in the Orthodox community—and even perhaps the largest schism in Christianity since 1054. The international community has a key role in determining how this unfolds and must act to ensure the worst scenarios don’t come to pass.
How can Afghans make peace AND protect women? Meet Ayesha Aziz.
After nearly 40 years of war, Afghanistan and the international community are urgently seeking paths for a peace process. But amid the tentative efforts—a three-day ceasefire in June, the peace march across the country by hundreds of Afghans and talks by U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad—a somber question hangs for women and human rights advocates. How can Afghanistan make peace with the Taliban while protecting democracy and women’s rights?
Tunisia Timeline: Since the Jasmine Revolution
Protests in Tunisia ignited the Arab Spring in late 2010. The transition has witnessed the evolution of the most hopeful young democracy in the Middle East. But it is still fraught with economic, political and security challenges.