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.
Syrian Opposition Leader Jarba Appeals for U.S. Understanding, Weapons
Syrian Opposition Coalition leader Ahmad Jarba, giving his first official address in the U.S., appealed for Americans to understand the movement's fight for "dignity," and for the Obama administration to provide the weapons rebels need to thwart the regime's barrel bombs that are "making our lives a nightmare."
How to Beat a Russian Occupation with Flash Mobs
As separatists in eastern Ukraine stage demonstrations and occupy government buildings, calling for Russian annexation, there is renewed anxiety about the 40,000 Russian troops massed along the border. The prospect of Russian incursion raises the question of how Ukrainians -- outnumbered, outgunned, and more than likely unsupported by Western militaries -- might be able to resist. Though there have been murmurs of Moscow's troops being met with a guerilla campaign, Ukrainians best hope for ch...
Q&A: South Sudan’s Violence
Leaders involved in South Sudan’s conflict signed a ceasefire agreement late last week in the second such effort to end violence that has beset the world’s newest independent nation. Jon Temin, USIP’s director of Africa programs, discusses the conflict, international approaches to encourage a resolution and strategies to help move the country forward.
USIP’s Hadley Scans Conflict Horizon for Civilian Solutions
U.S. Institute of Peace Board Chairman and former National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley said shifts in the nature of conflict worldwide demand sophisticated, long-term strategies to address conflicts from Europe to the Middle East to Asia.
“Peace Conferences Don’t Always Work” and Other Lessons for Achieving Sustainable Peace in South Sudan and Sudan
The recent re-eruption of political violence in South Sudan in late 2013 has not only inflamed long-standing and unresolved local grievances, but also highlights the critical need to improve the impact and sustainability of local peace processes in any region. In the new Peaceworks, “Local Peace Processes in Sudan and South Sudan,” USIP’s Jacqueline H. Wilson outlines the importance of understanding and improving local peace processes.
Games for Change Seek to Connect Dots Towards Peace
In societies riven by conflict, Asi Burak hopes to pick up where inadequate education and news reports leave off. The award-winning co-creator of the PeaceMaker computer game outlined the triumphs and challenges of trying to advance social change with gaming technology, during a session at the U.S. Institute of Peace for the annual Alliance for Peacebuilding conference.
South Sudan Activists Call for Civil Society Role in Peace Process
The May 9 peace deal for South Sudan, signed between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar, has already been violated. But there is an important upside to the agreement: it calls for including civil society in the peace process. Three South Sudanese civic leaders discussed civil society’s role in the peace process at USIP with Jon Temin, the Institute’s director of Africa programs.
Q&A: Lebanese Presidential Elections
Lebanon’s parliament failed to elect a successor within the constitutional timeframe before President Michel Suleiman’s term expired on May 25. Elie Abouaoun, the director of Middle East programs for the U.S. Institute of Peace, explains the dynamics feeding the divisions, the ramifications of the vacancy and possible solutions.
Somalia Slated for First U.S. Ambassador in Two Decades
President Barack Obama will nominate an ambassador to Somalia for the first time in more than 20 years, Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman said at the U.S. Institute of Peace June 3, as she outlined an intensified push to improve security, governance and development in the African nation.
Russia's Putin 'Could Solve' Ukraine Crisis, Ex-U.S. Ambassador Says
Stacks of red coffins being transported from Ukraine back to Russia after deadly fighting at an airport in eastern Ukraine last week are among the telltale signs of Russia’s responsibility for the crisis gripping its neighbor, said William B. Taylor, a vice president at the U.S. Institute of Peace and a former ambassador to Ukraine.