Publications

USIP regularly publishes an array of comprehensive analysis and policy recommendations on current international affairs issues, especially on the prevention and resolution of conflict.

We encourage you to sign-up to receive our weekly e-mail newsletter to receive notification of new publications. Below is an overview of the most recent publications. You can also view Special Reports and Peaceworks organized by region.

Peacebuilding Toolkits

USIP Develops Fragile States Framework
Working with a wide array of partners from non-governmental organizations, governments, militaries, international organizations, and the private sector, USIP is helping develop common doctrine, frameworks, and methodologies in support of peacebuilding.
Download the framework (PDF - 853KB)

State-Building Competencies
State-building is an increasingly important foreign policy mission, whether in the form of assistance to the developing world or in the form of stability and reconstruction operations in post-conflict societies. This document introduces a set of leadership competencies for state-building professionals (SBPs).
Download the toolkit (PDF - 1.04MB)

USIP Press

Fall 2008 Catalog
The Fall 2008 USIP Press Book Catalog is now available, featuring new and forthcoming books such as Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East, by Daniel C. Kurtzer and Scott B. Lasensky; Iran's Long Reach: Iran as a Pivotal State in the Muslim World, by Suzanne Maloney; and Identity, Diversity, and Constitutionalism in Africa, by Francis M. Deng. | Go to the Bookstore

Recent Publications

What Iraq Needs from the Obama Administration: Recommendations from Iraqis Resident in the U.S.
November 2008 | USIPeace Briefing | Elizabeth Detwiler
Iraq has experienced a notable reduction in violence in the past year, and the Iraqi panelists asserted the need for a continued presence of multinational forces to maintain this progress. However, as Almusawi specified, Iraqis insist that any agreement regarding the presence of foreign troops should not compromise the country's sovereignty. The terms of the agreement must be clear, in Iraq's interests and approved by the Iraqi people.

Iraq’s Cultural Heritage: Preserving the Past for the Sake of the Future
October 2008 | USIPeace Briefing | Elizabeth Detwiler
The looting of Iraq’s museums and archaeological sites is an overlooked consequence of the 2003 invasion. The loss of such precious history would be tragic for any nation or culture.

The Next Chapter: The United States and Pakistan
October 2008 | Pakistan Policy Working Group Report
On October 2, 2008, the USIP-cosponsored Pakistan Policy Working Group released a report with recommendations to the next administration as it develops its strategic options relating to Pakistan. The recommendations are endorsed by Richard L. Armitage, former deputy secretary of state and Lee Hamilton, former U.S. representative and co-chair of the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group.

The Treasury Approach to State-Building and Institution-Strengthening Assistance: Experience in Iraq and Broader Implications
October 2008 | Special Report | Jeremiah S. Pam
A great deal has been written in recent years about the shortcomings of and need to reform the way the United States conducts both foreign assistance generally and post-conflict state-building assistance in particular. In these discussions, most attention has understandably been devoted to the agencies most closely associated with the “three Ds” of defense, diplomacy, and development: the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Whither Peace Operations?
October 2008 | Special Report | Donald C. F. Daniel
Peace operations have undergone several evolutions since the first United Nations–administered peace mission in 1948. A characteristic feature of the most recent evolution, which began about a decade ago, is that today peace operations are more broadly accepted as a tool for contending with destabilizing events in all regions of the globe.

Media, Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding: Mapping the Edges
October 2008 | USIPeace Briefing | Sheldon Himelfarb and Megan Chabalowski
There is growing recognition among policymakers and conflict management experts that the media should be a building block of any comprehensive peacebuilding strategy. Yet there are scant guidelines in this regard. Projects are still planned and implemented in a relatively ad-hoc manner, with minimal reference to lessons learned from previous initiatives. This USIP Peacebriefing examines the field.

Abrahamic Alternatives to War: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives on Just Peacemaking
October 2008 | Special Report | Susan Thistlethwaite and Glen Stassen
Eight Muslim scholar-leaders, six Jewish scholar-leaders, and eight Christian scholar-leaders met from June 13 to 15, 2007, in Stony Point, N.Y., at a conference sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace and the Churches’ Center for Theology and Public Policy. The purpose of the conference, titled Alternatives to War, was to specify practices within each of the three Abrahamic traditions that could lay the groundwork for a nonviolent program to resolve global conflict and address injustice.

Online Press Kits and News Releases

Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East
February 2008
Authors Scott Lasensky and Daniel Kurtzer conlude that there can be no endgame, two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict without the United States playing an active role in spurring the negotiations.
Go to the Press Kit

How We Missed the Story: Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and the Hijacking of Afghanistan
January 2008
Award-winning journalist Roy Gutman weaves a narrative that exposes how and why the U.S. government, the United Nations, and the Western media "missed the story" in the leadup to 9/11.
Go to the Press Kit

View all Online Press Kits and News Releases