Rule of Law
Latest from USIP on Rule of Law
- February 12, 2013 | Course
Acquire a firm grounding in the principles, concepts, and terminology of Islamic law as well as an introduction to its history and its role in the contemporary era, including Islamic constitutionalism, criminal law, and human rights law.
- February 6, 2013 | Publication
Countries transitioning to democracy must change old models of organizing the police, armed services, and intelligence services, which typically were characterized by mistreatment of the public, for models that stress transparency, accountability, and citizen involvement. Yet each new government in the Middle East and North Africa must tailor its reforms carefully and patiently in order to avoid backlash among security services.
- January 29, 2013 | Publication
Dr. Holger Albrecht is an assistant professor of political science at the American University in Cairo and Jennings Randolph senior fellow (2012-2013). His main research focus is on political opposition in the authoritarian regimes, transition to democracy, and civil-military relations in the Middle East and North Africa. His new book, “Raging Against the Machine: Political Opposition under Authoritarianism in Egypt,” is forthcoming with Syracuse University Press.
- January 22, 2013 | Publication
Jordan’s parliamentary elections this week is being met by the country’s citizens with a kind of collective “Why bother?” USIP expert Steven Heydemann, who is in Jordan as an election monitor for the nonprofit International Republican Institute, considers the odds of changing that familiar pattern.
- December 27, 2012 | Publication
A high-ranking Syrian general's reasoning for his defection reinforces the dilemmas that will face the country in the aftermath of the conflict.
- December 26, 2012 | Publication
Long marginalized by the country’s political leaders, Iraq’s small religious and ethnic minorities have made historic gains during 2012 with some critical assistance from the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP).
- December 11, 2012 | Course
Disputes and grievances over land and property are implicated in practically all conflicts. This course provides policymakers and practitioners with analytical tools for assessing and addressing an array of complex land and property disputes, from competing ownership claims and restitution to customary land rights and illegal urban settlements. Drawing on case studies of peace operations and peacebuilding efforts, participants explore the range of entry points (humanitarian, human rights, state building, development, etc.) and options for dispute resolution and structural reform.
- December 3, 2012 | Publication
Dr. Jennifer M. Keister, a former USIP Randolph-Jennings Peace Scholar, bases this report on her own research—during which she has spent more than 21 months in the field, traveling extensively in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao (2008-2011)—and on recent discussions with contacts still in-country.
- November 30, 2012 | Publication
Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, a USIP senior program officer, discusses the U.N. body's overwhelming approval of a Palestinian bid to upgrade its status in the General Assembly to that of nonmember observer state -- 139 in favor, 41 abstentions, and nine against.
- November 8, 2012 | Publication
As broader peace efforts have faltered, the international community has increasingly focused on the capacity of local communities in Darfur to regulate conflict in their midst. This report examines the traditional justice system in Darfur and points to challenges facing traditional authorities, as well as how the system has adapted and evolved during the years of violent conflict.
- November 8, 2012 | Publication
The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on November 7 launched what will be a series of discussions drawing together naval attachés representing Asia-Pacific countries in Washington with regional and U.S. policy experts. The aim is to help the naval attachés better understand U.S. policy-making and analytical perspectives, helping their governments to shape informed responses to U.S. strategy in a strategically vital and changing region that is the locus of numerous security, diplomatic and economic issues.
- November 5, 2012 | Publication
In 2010, In keeping with its mandate of promoting peacebuilding tools and capacities, USIP awarded a grant to Oxford Research Group (ORG) to initiate and develop a new international network of casualty recording practitioners to define and test a generalizable framework for enumerating the casualties of armed conflict. On October 22, 2012, Elizabeth Minor, the principal ORG researcher on the two-year study, briefed an invite-only audience at USIP on the report, “Towards the Recording of Every Casualty World Wide.”
- November 5, 2012 | In the Field
Peace is more than just the absence of conflict. Peace is the presence of mutually respectful relationships among individuals and groups. Those relationships enable disputes to be handled with tact, understanding, and a recognition that everyone shares some common interests. At the heart of those relationships is trust. USIP's Colette Rausch reflects on her recent trip to Libya.
- October 19, 2012 | Publication
Ethnopolitical, sectarian, militant, and criminal violence plagues Pakistan’s largest city and commercial center. Failure of the major political parties to agree to a solution for Karachi threatens to destabilize all of Pakistan.
- October 12, 2012 | Publication
Christina Murtaugh and Fiona Mangan discuss the changing face of international rule of law engagement and a parallel shift in the individuals and teams carrying out rule of law work globally