David R. Smock

South Sudan celebrates the first anniversary of its formal independence and nationhood on July 9. Though hopes for progress remain high, the young nation is struggling on several fronts—internal security, relations with Sudan, development, rule of law and statebuilding. The specialists at the U.S. Institute of Peace who work on conflict management and peacebuilding programs in South Sudan examine the gains made and the many challenges ahead.

This forthcoming volume will publish in October 2012 and is available for pre-order.

Facilitating Dialogue presents seven case studies of the United States Institute of Peace’s facilitated dialogue efforts in Iraq, Kosovo, Israel/Palestine, Colombia, Nigeria, and Nepal. Covering a variety of conflict situations and peacemaking efforts—from the tribal reconciliation in Mahmoudiya, Iraq, to a justice and security dialogue in Nepal—the cases tell stories of peacebuilding successes, efforts in progress, limitations on what can be achieved, and lessons learned.

Experts on nonviolent peacekeeping presented their methodologies, lessons learned, and the way forward for the innovative field at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on March 21, 2012.

The importance of USIP’s convening authority and its unique expertise in religion, peacebuilding, Afghanistan, and conflict management  training was evident in a closed-door session between leading religious leaders, scholars, practitioners and representatives from the U.S. government on Monday, March 5, 2012.

In a period of tremendous change in parts of the world, we are asking USIP leaders, from board members to senior staff and experts, to explain the effects that events abroad and here at home will have on the United States, and the contributions the Institute can and does make. David Smock is currently the senior vice president for USIP’s Centers of Innovation.

Religion is often seen as the cause of strife around the globe, but in reality, it can provide the foundation for what helps to end conflict. USIP’s work, from Indonesia to Pakistan, demonstrates that religion can play a positive role in managing conflict. USIP’s David Smock, senior vice president for the Centers of Innovation, explores the issue in this brief question-and-answer.

USIP has found the documentary film "The Imam and the Pastor" useful as a resource for workshops and training programs exploring themes of religious peacebuilding and inter-group reconciliation. As such, we commissioned religion and peacebuilding specialist David Steele to produce a facilitator’s manual so that others might use this documentary, and the follow-up documentary" An African Answer," in their own training and workshops. This manual is available for download free-of-charge here.

The U.S. Institute of Peace continues to follow the developments in Egypt and the Middle East.  Read about USIP's work on Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle East, work on national security issues, democratization, and more.

David Smock, vice president of USIP's Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution, discusses religious tensions and recent events in Nigeria, and examines the outlook for Africa's most populous nation.

Recent incidences of ethno-religious violence in northern Nigeria have alarmed the international community to the point where Nigeria is now perceived as a potential breeding ground for transnational terrorism and violent religious extremism. According to Nigeria expert John Paden, this characterization is false. If anything, Nigeria is a hotbed of Islamic moderation.

USIP's David Smock explores the factors underlying and perpetuating the militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In this report, based on an 11-day trip to Nigeria in late August 2009, Smock analyzes the prospects for the amnesty process, and why stronger political processes and economic development could help address the roots of the conflict there.

Muslims in general and Muslim leaders particularly have often been severely criticized for not more energetically condemning the violent acts of Muslim extremists. The uninformed often assume that extremists represent Islam’s mainstream.

Managing a Mediaiton Process is the first handbook of the Peacemaker’s Toolkit series. This handbook provides a methodology for mediating interstate and intrastate conflicts. Each of the six chapters covers a different step in the process, identifying what needs to be done at that step and how best to accomplish it.

While the humanitarian and security crises continue in Darfur, there have been some improvements in recent weeks, including the decrease in civilian casualties. However, in the first two months of 2007, 80,000 people were forced from their homes because of violence. How can the international community help enhance peacekeeping in Darfur?

The current crisis in Somalia is much more complicated than simply a conflict between Islamic extremists and moderates. U.S. policy toward Somalia must be more all-encompassing.

In this volume, Jews, Muslims, and Christians with very diverse views address such issues as the just war doctrine, explaining their differences and finding often surprising common ground.

On January 16, 1997, the United States Institute of Peace and the U.S. Department of State cosponsored a one-day roundtable discussion of diplomats, scholars, and nongovernmental organization specialists on the unfolding crises in Zaire-both the complex humanitarian emergency and civil war in eastern Zaire and the ongoing crisis of governmental legitimacy and capacity stemming from a lagging transition to multiparty democracy.

Testimony of David Smock before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus

The good work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in recent conflicts in such countries as Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia is well known—providing food, shelter, medicine, and a host of other materials and services under extremely difficult conditions. But does humanitarian assistance in some cases actually exacerbate conflict?

Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Views on Nonviolence and International Conflict

The purpose of the meeting was to see if this diverse gathering of Somali professionals could develop consensusre commendations about how to promote more effective relief efforts in Somalia and how to advance toward political reconciliation and reconstruction  Given their divergent perspectives, the group was able to achieve an impressive degree of consensus on key points. The purpose of this report is to summarize these points of consensus.