USIP

The United States Institute of Peace is an American federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individuals in diplomacy, mediation, and other peace-building measures

The United States Institute of Peace is a national, nonpartisan, independent institute, founded by Congress and dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical and essential for U.S. and global security. In conflict zones abroad, the Institute works with local partners to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflict. To reduce future crises and the need for costly interventions, USIP works with governments and civil societies to build local capacities to manage conflict peacefully. The Institute pursues its mission by linking research, policy, training, analysis and direct action to support those who are working to build a more peaceful, inclusive world.

What USIP Does
Serves as a nonpartisan government partner and trusted intermediary among foreign governments, civil society, and U.S. government officials.
Works in conflict zones at the community level and with national and regional governments, with a focus on connecting top-down and bottom-up initiatives.
Applies research through training, education, policy recommendations, and application of best practices.
Partners with stakeholders around the world to research, support, and advance strategies to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflict.
Draws on its exceptional convening power to bring together diverse audiences to exchange knowledge and ideas necessary for developing solutions to the most pressing peace and security challenges.

How USIP Advances Peace and U.S. National Security
In Iraq, USIP and its partners are facilitating reconciliation dialogues to heal the deep divides left by the ISIS occupation. The dialogues have led to six accords, which have permitted the return of more than 600,000 displaced Iraqis.
USIP has worked on the ground in Afghanistan for 17 years, helping Afghans build nonviolent solutions to the country’s long conflict. The Institute works from the ground up, with local government and civil society partners, and from the top down, informing U.S. and Afghan policymakers through research, analysis, and track 2 dialogues.

In Nigeria, USIP convenes the country’s influential state governors with civic and religious leaders to develop pragmatic strategies for reducing the root causes of radicalization and the Boko Haram insurgency.
In Colombia, USIP expanded the role of women and minorities in the negotiations that ended 50 years of civil war in 2016. The Institute trains and supports local organizations to build peaceful solutions for the inevitable conflicts that arise with implementation.

Across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, USIP brings together young civil society leaders working for peace for a training and mentoring program. Since 2014, the Generation Change program has trained more than 200 youth leaders from 24 countries. In 2017, these young leaders engaged nearly 120,000 citizens across their communities.

In Washington, USIP facilitates bipartisan commissions—at the request of Congress—on the toughest policy issues, including how to address the underlying causes of extremism in fragile states and policy options for the complicated conflict in Syria.
USIP researches policy options for the U.S. government to avert or end violence. Recent research focuses on global and regional interstate competition, particularly a rising China and a more assertive Russia, as well as on the risks from North Korea.

Priorities: Making Peace Possible
Amid escalating disorder and a rapidly evolving strategic landscape, USIP is focusing on the rising complexity of violent upheavals in fragile states, particularly those stemming from the destabilizing roles of competing powers and rising competition for scarce resources. The Institute continues to focus on conflict areas that are of the greatest concern to U.S. national security interests and values, and in which USIP has built expertise and partnerships for more than three decades.
The Institute prioritizes:

Continuing its fieldwork to help fragile states and their citizens develop capacities to reduce and resolve violent conflicts.

Based on their importance to U.S. national security and implications for regional and international peace and security, current priority countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Tunisia.
Sharpening its focus on the destabilizing impact of regional and major power competition in fragile states, with a renewed emphasis on Russia and China.
Sustaining USIP’s field operations to reduce violence in fragile states while augmenting its unofficial dialogues and analysis work on areas of rising danger.
Founded in 1984, USIP is funded by Congress and governed by a 15-member, bipartisan Board of Directors. The Institute’s teams work in many of the world’s most volatile regions. In 2011, USIP moved to its permanent home on the northwest corner of the National Mall.

President: Lise Grande
Founder: United States Congress
Founded: 1984
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Budget: $37.8 million (2018)
Abbreviation: USIP