New State Department Documents Refute Karadzic Claims

Friday, June 26, 2009

The State Department on June 25 announced it would make public documents pertaining to new accusations by Radovan Karadzic, the indicted Serbian war leader, that the U.S. government and specifically U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke had promised him immunity from prosecution for war crimes during the Bosnian war (1992-1995) if he would withdraw from public life. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1995 indicted Karadzic for war crimes, including charges ...

Iraq Beyond 2011: Remarks by Deputy Minister Rafe Al-Eissawi

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

By: Elizabeth Detwiler

Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister, Rafe Al-Eissawi, on June 10 spoke at a public event at the Institute to deliver his primary message: the U.S. and Iraq need “to move from [a military-based] relationship towards the strategic framework relationship.”   

Iran’s Disputed Election

Monday, June 22, 2009

By: Dan Brumberg;  Steve Heydemann;  Sheldon Himelfarb;  Asieh Mir

Posted: June 22, 2009 Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on June 19 called for an end to the political demonstrations that have engulfed Tehran – and riveted the world -- for the past week. In his first public response to the political unrest, Khamenei warned those participating in the protests to stay off the streets, blaming foreign leaders and the media for exploiting differences within Iran’s political sphere to destabilize the country.  He furthermore warned protesters they...

Type: Analysis

Educating the Next Generation of Peacebuilders

Thursday, June 18, 2009

By: Liz Harper

Considering all the many non-governmental organizations working in conflict zones overseas, there’s a great need to prepare students with the humanitarian and peacebuilding skills they will need for their future careers.  And, shouldn’t students get this training through their academic programs before they head out into the “real world”? That’s what USIP seminar alums Paul Forage and Jeff Dykhuizen thought, and, as faculty at their community colleges, they set out to incorporate peace, intern...

Education & Training

U.S.-Iranian Engagement

Monday, June 15, 2009

By: Daniel Brumberg;  Eriks Berzins

On February 23, 2009, the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), together with the United Nations Association-USA and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, held a roundtable discussion among top Middle East experts and former United States Government officials. Held at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, the meeting’s purpose was to discuss prospects for creating a diplomatic framework through which the United States and the Isla...

Religion

Iran Elections

Monday, June 15, 2009

By: Asieh Mir

Iran declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the presidential election, but many insist the vote was rigged and took to the streets in protest. The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered an investigation into complaints of electoral fraud, as hundreds of thousands of people marched in what appears to be the largest anti-government demonstration in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

Type: Analysis

Lebanon's Parliamentary Elections

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

By: Mona Yacoubian

Lebanon's pro-Western bloc, known as the "March 14" coalition, will retain control of the country's government despite a strong challenge from a Hezbollah-dominated alliance, according to results from the June 7 parliamentary elections. USIP's Mona Yacoubian examines the electoral results, and what they suggest about support for Hezbollah, and the country's future direction.

Type: Analysis

Lebanon’s Parliamentary Elections:

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

By: Mona Yacoubian

The June 7th parliamentary elections mark another important step in Lebanon’s postcivil war transition. The Cedar Revolution opened a new chapter in Lebanese history, inaugurating the end of outright Syrian hegemony. The mass protest movement mobilized following the February 14, 2005, assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri forced the Syrian military to withdraw in April 2005 after thirty years of occupation.

Media as Global Diplomat

Media as Global Diplomat

Monday, June 1, 2009

By: Sheldon Himelfarb;  Tamara Gould;  Eric Martin;  Tara Sonenshine

 It would be tempting to pronounce American public diplomacy dead in the 21st century. Where government once served as a powerful middleman for information and access, shaping prevailing messages about the United States, now the Internet connects two billion people directly. The result is a brave new world for multilateral international communication, with unprecedented power to connect and divide, spread truth and rumor, and organize dispersed individuals for good, evil, and everything in be...

Type: Special Report

Hamas: Ideological Rigidity and Political Flexibility

Hamas: Ideological Rigidity and Political Flexibility

Monday, June 1, 2009

By: Paul Scham;  Osama Abu-Irshaid

Hamas's landslide victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections of January 2006 came as an unwelcome and unexpected shock to both Middle Eastern and international regimes, with the organization winning nearly 58 percent of the Palestinian Legislative Council seats. The United States, a number of European nations, and Israel had all issued clear warnings before the elections that they would not deal with a Palestinian Authority led by Hamas.

Type: Special Report

Religion