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. The withdrawal of international combat troops between 2011 and 2014 left a fragile security...
Pakistan’s disputes with neighboring India and Afghanistan periodically erupt in violence. Domestic attacks involving disparate terrorist and insurgent groups, and counter-offensives by Pakistan’s military, have killed tens of thousands of Pakistanis over a decade and forced nearly 1.5 million from...
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. It is the main cause of the massive...
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). Both armed groups and criminal networks within the Congolese army have financially benefited from the production...
Iraq has been ravaged by cycles of warfare, a growing refugee crisis, crippling sectarianism, and the violent spread of the self-styled Islamic State extremist movement (also known as ISIS, ISIL or by its Arabic acronym, Daesh). While Iraqis have made some progress over the years in building their...
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has made progress on reforming the country’s military and intensifying the fight against the extremist group Boko Haram, which threatens the stability of not only Nigeria, but other countries in the Lake Chad Basin. The group’s insurgency has left the country...
After more than 50 years, one of the world’s longest-running wars is close to being ended. Colombia’s government and rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) signed a peace accord in August following years of talks in Havana. Colombian voters narrowly rejected the accord amid...
The first peaceful and democratic election in the Central African Republic (CAR) in February 2016 opened the way for accelerating efforts to stabilize a country beset by violence since gaining independence from France in 1960. A source of diamonds, gold, oil and uranium, CAR has been riven by...
The Peace Day Challenge is a global effort to turn the International Day of Peace into a day of global action that affirms peace as a real alternative to the increasing violence we see daily. It encourages people to build peace on September 21, and to inspire others to join in, using the social...
The United States Institute of Peace works to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflict around the world. USIP does this by engaging directly in conflict zones and by providing analysis, education, and resources to those working for peace. Created by Congress in 1984 as an independent,...