Articles and Publications

USIP articles, publications, and tools provide the latest news, analysis, research findings, practitioner guides, and reports from the conflict zones that are at the center of the Institute’s work to prevent and reduce violent conflict.

Latest Articles & Analysis

Under Trump, U.S. Will ‘Lead’ and ‘Engage Partners’
January 2017
By
USIP Staff
National Security Advisor Designate Michael Flynn last week predicted a Trump administration foreign policy cognizant of “the strength of … alliances” when he spoke at the U.S. Institute of Peace. At USIP’s Passing the Baton conference, the retired Army lieutenant general expanded on his description in an interview shortly after his address. The United States under President Trump will exercise leadership by “globally engaging our partners around the world,” Flynn said.
Type
News Feature
'Political Peace' Is Possible, Says AEI President
January 2017
Arthur Brooks, an economist and musician who is president of the American Enterprise Institute, said the cause of the current U.S. political rifts has been misdiagnosed and outlined a prescription for achieving “maybe the most elusive kind of peace of all around the world today.” In a presentation at Passing the Baton, a conference at the U.S. Institute of Peace that was co-sponsored by his think tank and four others, Brooks declared, “Political peace is possible.”
Type
News Feature
Agenda: ‘Global System,’ Cyber War, Defense—and Tweets
January 2017
When ABC News’ Martha Raddatz asked four national security thinkers to list top priorities for the new administration, discussion at the U.S. Institute of Peace “Passing the Baton” conference swung quickly to the pros and cons of disruption—specifically, President-elect Trump’s spontaneous declarations, via Twitter, on foreign affairs. 
Type
News Feature
On Security, Expect Surprise, Plan for the Shocks
January 2017
The next administration is sure to face unforeseen and disruptive crises such as unknown diseases, natural disasters or sudden shifts in the world’s strategic landscape, panelists said at the U.S. Institute of Peace “Passing the Baton” conference on Jan. 10. Where these challenges will arise is uncertain, according to a retired general, a World Bank leader, a homeland security expert and a think-tank scholar. Attempts at forecasting threats are helpful, they said, but most critical is to improve protocols for crisis response and ensure underlying strength for recovery. 
Type
News Feature
Senator Graham Urges Trump to Back Development Aid
January 2017
Senator Lindsey Graham said President-elect Donald Trump needs to understand that foreign assistance is a critical tool for fighting terrorism around the world and requires a jolt in spending no less than his proposed boost for the military. Speaking at the U.S. Institute of Peace’s “Passing the Baton” conference on Jan. 10, the South Carolina Republican said that, without more resources for intelligence and for humanitarian and development aid, the new administration “will miss the boat on what it takes to win the war.”
Type
News Feature
Flynn Thanks Rice, Affirms Value of U.S. Allies
January 2017
At the center of the “Passing the Baton 2017” conference, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and her successor, Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, exchanged declarations of bipartisan cooperation in their transition—and, to applause, a prolonged handshake. Flynn then laid out a vision for national security policy in the Trump administration in his most extensive public remarks since being named for the position.
Type
News Feature
Cooling Iraq’s Conflict With Community Dialogue
January 2017
The violence of extremists—and the chaos they spawn—takes place in towns, villages, streets and homes, not along some far-off front line. That’s where extremist groups seek recruits and where residents they victimize plot revenge, said the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Sarhang Hamasaeed in a Ted Talk-style presentation during the Jan. 10 “Passing the Baton” conference. While national and international efforts to bring peace to such areas can help, dialogue and mediation at the community level has proven to be a successful key to curbing conflict, he said. 
Type
News Feature
Secretary Kerry Defends Obama Foreign Policy
January 2017
Secretary of State John Kerry contested what he called “revisionist commentary” about the Obama administration’s foreign policy, laying out a defense of achievements such as a global climate change agreement and the Iran nuclear accord, as part of the U.S. Institute of Peace’s “Passing the Baton” conference on Jan. 10. Kerry also shared his concerns about what he called the “fact-less political environment” and the President-elect’s penchant for communicating foreign policy positions on Twitter. 
Type
News Feature
U.S. National Security Chiefs Talk Leadership, Partners
January 2017
By
USIP Staff
The national security advisors to President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump stood shoulder-to-shoulder on a stage at the U.S. Institute of Peace yesterday and shook hands to a standing ovation at a two-day conference on foreign and national security policy. In speeches, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and her designated successor, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, struck a tone of cooperation on the transition between administrations. The conference, called “Passing the Baton,” included Secretary of State John Kerry, Senator Lindsey Graham and hundreds of incoming, outgoing and former officials as well as independent experts. 
Type
News Feature
Trump & Obama Aides, Experts Weigh America’s Global Role
January 2017
By
USIP Staff
Seven weeks past an election that stirred talk of U.S. isolationism, national security aides from the incoming, outgoing and previous administrations held private discussions January 9 that found a broad point of consensus: The United States must lead more, not less, in the world. The meetings, among more than 80 past, present and future officials and independent foreign policy analysts, opened a bi-partisan conference on national security issues convened by the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and five foreign policy think tanks. Strikingly, after a sharply divisive election campaign, “the mood in the room was collegial” between figures from the two administrations, an attendee said. Across the lines of party and administration, participants declared themselves “committed to the success” of the incoming Trump team, he said.
Type
News Feature

View All Articles

Latest Publications and Tools

The Current Situation in Afghanistan
January 2017
Afghanistan’s war is fueled by support from within Pakistan for Taliban insurgents, and by poor governance within Afghanistan, including entrenched patronage systems and corruption, and a weak rule of law.
Type
USIP Fact Sheets
The Current Situation in Pakistan
January 2017
Pakistan’s disputes with neighboring India and Afghanistan periodically erupt in violence.
Type
USIP Fact Sheets
Electing Peace
January 2017
By
Jonas Claes, editor
Electing Peace: Violence Prevention and Impact at the Polls examines election violence prevention and assesses the effectiveness of different prevention practices—which are effective, which are not, and under what circumstances.
Type
Books
Women in Nonviolent Movements
December 2016
By
Marie A. Principe
Women’s meaningful involvement in civil resistance movements has shown to be a game changer.
Type
Special Reports
Responding to Corruption and the Kabul Bank Collapse
December 2016
By
Grant McLeod
The 2010 collapse of Kabul Bank, at the time a critically important institution in Afghanistan’s banking system, exposed major regulatory and transaction-related deficits in the system that permitted a large degree of fraud.
Type
Special Reports
Dynamics of Radicalization and Violent Extremism in Kosovo
December 2016
By
Adrian Shtuni
Relying in large part on primary empirical evidence, this report explores the dynamics of violent extremism in Kosovo and the disproportionately high number of radicalized fighters from the region in Syria and Iraq.
Type
Special Reports
The Current Situation in Syria
December 2016
Syria’s war is not only a humanitarian catastrophe but a threat to stability in countries as distant as Europe. The warfare has killed perhaps 400,000 people, according to U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, and uprooted as many as 12 million, half of the population.
Type
USIP Fact Sheets
The Jihadi Threat: ISIS, Al Qaeda and Beyond
December 2016
The West failed to predict the emergence of al-Qaeda in new forms across the  Middle East and North Africa. It was blindsided by the ISIS sweep across Syria and Iraq, which at least temporarily changed the map of the  Middle East.
Type
Special Reports
Prosecuting Economic and Environmental Crimes
December 2016
For almost two decades, the illegal exploitation of natural resources has contributed significantly to the financing of violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Type
USIP Fact Sheets
Afghan Women and Violent Extremism
November 2016
By
Belquis Ahmadi and Sadaf Lakhani
In Afghanistan, the actions and narratives of violent extremist groups threaten to roll back many of the gains and hard-won rights of women over the last fifteen years.
Type
Special Reports

View All Publications

USIP Articles and Publications by Category