Events At Usip

Over the last two decades, policy frameworks like the Women, Peace and Security agenda, provide a valuable platform for advocacy efforts. Yet such approaches do not tackle the underlying issue of gender inequality. As researchers have documented, where there is less gender equality there is less peace.  The U.S. Civil Society Working Group on Women, Peace and Security and the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted this discussion examining how policies and programs can be shaped to better prevent the use of sexual violence and re-establish secure environments when it does occur. 

Do postwar peacebuilding interventions work to keep peace? How do we measure the effectiveness of such international interventions? Join former USIP Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow Pamina Firchow as she discusses her findings on how to measure the impact of local-level interventions on communities affected by war. 

Global adversaries, especially states like Russia, China and Iran, use sharp power tools of coercion, disinformation and proxy campaigns to achieve their geopolitical goals and weaken Western influence.  Former U.S. ambassadors Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) discussed their views on how soft power tools can and should be used to counter sharp power employed by global adversaries at USIP’s seventh Bipartisan Congressional Dialogue Speakers: Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL) 19th Congressional District of Florida, U.S. House of Representatives Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) 8th Congressional District of Virginia, U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Lindborg, moderator President, U.S. Institute of Peace

As the loss of ISIS territory drives thousands of “foreign terrorist fighters” to return home, and hundreds of people convicted of terrorism-related offenses are scheduled for release over the next several years, communities worldwide are faced with rehabilitating and reintegrating people disengaging from violent extremism. USIP hosted this discussion of how policies and programs can address trauma and reduce stigma to foster cross-cutting affiliations and social learning, enable rehabilitation, and ease reintegration for people disengaging from extremist violence. Panelists: Jesse Morton Founder and Co-director, Parallel Networks, and co-author of the forthcoming report, “When Terrorists Come Home: The Need for Rehabilitating and Reintegrating America’s Convicted Jihadists” Dr. James Gordon Founder and Executive Director, The Center for Mind-Body Medicine Dr. Sousan Abadian Franklin Fellow, Office of International Religious Freedom, Department of State Stacey Schamber Senior Program Officer, Internati

The 2018 National Defense Strategy asserts that the United States is emerging from a post-Cold War period of “strategic atrophy.” On October 30, 2018, the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted a discussion with Secretary Mattis on how the National Defense Strategy seeks to meet the shared challenges of our time through strengthening and evolving America’s strategic alliances and partnerships. 

One in five elections worldwide is marred by violence—from burned ballot boxes to violent suppression of peaceful rallies, to assassinations of candidates. A USIP study of programs to prevent violence suggests focusing on improving the administration and policing of elections. The study, of elections in Kenya and Liberia, found no evidence that programs of voter consultation or peace messaging were effective there.  A series of speakers discussed these findings. Speakers: Pat Merloe Senior Associate and Director for Election Programs, NDI John Tomaszewski Africa Director, IRI Joshua Changwony Deputy Executive Secretary, Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO, Kenya) Oscar Bloh Chairman, Elections Coordination Committee (ECC, Liberia) Inken von Borzyskowski Assistant Professor, Florida State University Jonas Claes, facilitator Senior Program Officer, Center for Applied Conflict Transformation, USIP Debra Liang-Fenton, facilitator Senior Program Officer, Center for Applied Conflict Transfo

Jessica Baumgardner-Zuzik Director of Learning & Evaluation, Alliance for Peacebuilding Michael Findley Professor of Government and Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin Lise Morjé Howard Associate Professor of Government, Georgetown University Renard Sexton Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University and International Crisis Group Rebecca Wolfe Director of Evidence & Influence, Mercy Corps  

Maciej Bartkowski PhD, John Hopkins University Sarah Mendelson Distinguished Service Professor of Public Policy and Head of Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University Dmytro Potekhin Founder and CEO, FakesRadar.org Moderator: Charles North Senior Advisor, Ukraine, U.S. Institute of Peace

PeaceCon Welcome and Keynote Address: Ambassador Bill Taylor Vice President, U.S. Institute of Peace Liz HumeVice President, and Acting CEO, Alliance for Peacebuilding Robert Burke Chairman, Alliance for Peacebuilding General Anthony Zinni U.S. Marine Corps (Retired) Thomas Staal Counselor, USAID, Keynote   Global Policy Frameworks on Sustaining Peace - A Call for Collaborative and Collective Action: Larry Attree Head of Policy, Saferworld Rosarie Tucci Director of Inclusive Societies, U.S. Institute of Peace Darynell Rodriguez Torres Executive Director, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict David Steven Associate Director, Center on International Cooperation, New York University Katy Thompson Team Leader – Conflict Prevention/Rule of Law, Justice, Security & Human Rights, Bureau for Programme and Policy Support, United Nations Development Programme Moderator: Gary Milante, Director, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s Peace and Development Programme  

Peacebuilding work matters, but we still struggle to show evidence of where interventions have led to positive outcomes, such as a clear reduction in violence or increased cooperation. The Peacebuilding M&E Solutions Forum is an opportunity for practitioners to come together, network and connect with people working in this space, and share best practices, lessons learned, results, and evidence from across the broad spectrum of M&E activities on peacebuilding programming. This event is co-hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Alliance for Peacebuilding. Speakers: Amb. William Taylor Executive Vice President, USIP Keith B. Ives CEO, Causal Design Jon Kurtz Director of Research and Learning, Mercy Corps David Hammond Director of Research, Institute for Economics and Peace Andrew Blum Executive Director, Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Beza Tesfaye Senior Researcher, Mercy Corps

Why do peacebuilders sometimes succeed and sometimes fail, even within the same country? Why can organizations not guarantee the same results from the same policies? In her newly published book, Global Governance and Local Peace: Accountability and Performance in International Peacebuilding, Susanna Campbell dives into why peacebuilding organizations often fail and presents one of the keys to success: local actors that force organizations to stay accountable to local peacebuilding goals. Speakers: Susanna Campbell Assistant Professor, School of International Service, American University Michael Barnett Professor, International Affairs and Political Science, The George Washington University Mike Jobbins Senior Director of Partnerships and Engagement, Search for Common Ground Kate Somvongsiri Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Agency for International Development Leanne Erdberg, moderator Director, Countering Violent Extremism, The U.S.

A groundbreaking new monograph, “When Civil Resistance Succeeds: Building Democracy After Popular Nonviolent Uprisings,” by Jonathan Pinckney,  demonstrates that nonviolent movements make democratic transitions more likely and lead to stronger democracies. The U.S. Institute of Peace and ICNC hosted a presentation by Dr. Pinckney followed by a panel discussion. The event provided key takeaways for activists and organizers, democratization experts, as well as external actors interested in supporting nonviolent movements, particularly prior to and during democratic transition.

As the new Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government settles into its second month in office, it has yet to publicly articulate a comprehensive vision for its foreign policy. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has promised that Pakistan’s foreign policy will “begin and end at Pakistan,” but many questions remain on how the government intends to implement this vision. At an initial meeting in Islamabad earlier in September, Secretary Pompeo expressed a desire to find common ground between the two countries, but also reiterated the United States has “real expectations” for the new government. In recent months, the U.S. government has also moved to prioritize a peace process in Afghanistan, historically a major source of contention between the United States and Pakistan. How can we expect Pakistan’s new government to respond? Speakers: Shah Mahmood Qureshi Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Islamic Republic of Pakistan

The evolution of U.S.-China relations over the last 40 years presents challenges that, if not properly managed, threaten American leadership in key places of strategic interest, from Asia to Africa to the Western Hemisphere. Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) joined USIP for a Bipartisan Congressional Dialogue about the People’s Republic of China as it increases its malicious activity in cyberspace, expands its military capabilities and presence around the globe, and uses economic tools to gain strategic leverage and undermine democracy in fragile states. 

Violence and crime are the main drivers of mass immigration from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador into the United States. These countries form a region known as the Northern Triangle, which ranks in the top 10 worldwide for homicide, corruption, drug trafficking and gang violence.   Over the past several decades, a significant amount of U.S. funds have been allocated to the war on drugs, rather than for security, peace and development. As conflict continues to escalate in Central America, how can the U.S. mitigate the violence, support and strengthen rule of law, and curb immigration? Speakers: Steve Olive Acting Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Latin America, USAID, Opening Remarks Lisa Haugaard Executive Director, Latin America Working Group Steve Hege Senior Expert, Colombia, U.S. Institute of Peace Adam Isacson Director for Defense Oversight, WOLA Enrique Roig Director, Citizen Security Practice Area Creative Associates International

For six months this year, USIP convened a group of 13 senior experts to examine China’s involvement in Myanmar’s internal conflicts—particularly those in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan states—and peace process. On September 17, USIP hosted a discussion with the group’s co-chairs on the main findings of their report, which is the first in USIP’s China Senior Study Group series examining China’s influence on conflict dynamics around the world. Speakers: Nancy Lindborg, opening remarks President, U.S. Institute of Peace Ambassador Derek Mitchell President, National Democratic Institute Co-chair, USIP China-Myanmar Senior Study Group Daniel Twining President, International Republican Institute Co-chair, USIP China-Myanmar Senior Study Group David Steinberg Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies Emeritus, Georgetown University Member, USIP China-Myanmar Senior Study Group Jennifer Staats, moderator Director, East and Southeast Asia Programs, U.S. Institute of Peace Executive Director, USIP China Senior Study Gro

This interim report of the Task Force on Extremism in Fragile States explains why such a preventive strategy is needed and what it might entail. In 2019, the Task Force will propose a comprehensive preventive strategy to mitigate the conditions that give rise to violent extremism Speakers: Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats Task Force Co-Chair Governor Tom Kean Senator Kelly Ayotte USIP President Nancy Lindborg

Amid unprecedented challenges to the postwar order, the U.S.-U.K. special relationship is critical to upholding democracy and the rule of law and promoting international peace and stability. Speaking at USIP—a U.S. national institute dedicated to preventing violent conflict and building peace around the world—the foreign secretary spoke about the challenges currently being presented to the rules-based international order and how the U.K. will work in partnership with other like-minded countries around the world to address them.

Pakistan's national elections on July 25 ushered in a new government, with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party now set to head a new governing coalition and former cricket star Imran Khan expected to become prime minister. After a controversial campaign period, the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)—whose former leader Nawaz Sharif was imprisoned just days before the elections—has alleged rigging, military manipulation, and media censorship. Several political parties have also challenged the results of the elections. To discuss the outcome of the elections, the shape of the next government, and the complaints and challenges to the outcome, USIP held a conversation with senior representatives from Pakistan’s top three political parties (PTI, PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party) via Skype along with experts Daniel Markey and Moeed Yusuf in Washington, D.C. Speakers: Syed Tariq Fatemi (via Skype) Former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Daniel Markey Senior Research Professor, School

Religion influences both peace and conflict worldwide. Violent extremism is often framed in religious terms, and religious discrimination continues to increase as both a driver and symptom of conflict. But, religion drives peace and coexistence as well and religious actors are essential for advancing religious freedom. Efforts to engage religious actors in countering violent extremism (CVE) and interfaith peacebuilding must take this dichotomy into account. Perpetrators of violence in the name of a religion often target vulnerable religious minorities, resulting in increased discrimination, social hostility and extremist behavior. This discussion explores how policymakers and practitioners can engage religious actors in CVE efforts in ways that ensure protection and the advancement of international religious freedom.   Opening Remarks: Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Former U.S. Representative from Virginia Tony Garrastazu, Senior Director, Center for Global Impact, International Republican Institute   Paneli