Events at USIP

Latest Episodes:

Ending Sexual Violence - From Policy to Practice Dec 07, 2018

Show notes

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.

Building Peace from the Bottom Up Nov 30, 2018

Show notes

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.

Soft Power in a Sharp Power World - A Bipartisan Congressional Dialogue Nov 29, 2018

Show notes

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

How to Rehabilitate and Reintegrate Violent Extremists Nov 28, 2018

Show notes

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, International Civil Society Action Network

Colette Rausch, moderator Senior Advisor, U.S. Institute of Peace

A Conversation with Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis Oct 31, 2018

Show notes

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.

What Really Works to Prevent Election Violence Oct 30, 2018

Show notes

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 Transformation, USIP

PeaceCon 2018 - Synthesizing and Modeling the Science on Sustaining Peace Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

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

PeaceCon 2018 - What Do We Know About Conflict Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

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 2018 - A Call for Collaborative and Collective Action Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

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

How Can Peacemakers Show Success? Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

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