Identity, Ethnicity, and Culture

Course will enable practitioners and policy makers to develop effective strategies in establishing stable institutions and helping to support a robust civil society in transition environments. Interactive exercises with critical analysis of various case studies will focus on establishing governance and democratic practices in divided societies, and offer a framework that can be applied in unstable, post-conflict environments.
 

 H.E. Ihsanoglu discussed OIC projects contributing to peacemaking and assessed the prospects of advancing U.S. - Islamic relations.

Kosovo, which declared its independence a year and a half ago, is now recognized by 62 other U.N. member states and aims eventually to join the European Union.  What progress is it making in this direction?

Education plays a critical role in preparing communities for change and has made important contributions to post-conflict reconciliation in numerous war-torn societies, yet education issues have largely been excluded from past efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  A new USIP report argues why an education track should be included in the negotiations phase and in the text of an agreement itself, and puts forward practical recommendations on how Israelis and Palestinians – and the international community – can move forward with a successful peace process that incorporates education.

The trade of stolen oil, or “blood oil,” in Nigeria is fueling a long-running insurgency in the Niger Delta region that has claimed many lives. A USIP special report by Judith Burdin Asuni shows how the big business of blood oil poses a threat not only to the Nigerian state and the region, but to the international community as well.

In Afghanistan's poppy-rich south and southwest, a raging insurgency intersects a thriving opium trade. A new USIP report, How Opium Profits the Taliban, examines who are the main beneficiaries of the opium trade, how traffickers influence the Taliban insurgency as well as the politics of the region, and considers the extent to which narcotics are changing the nature of the insurgency itself.

Based on a recent USIP report "Hamas: Ideological Rigidity, Political Flexibility" by Paul Scham and Osama abu-Irshaid, this discussion will explore how the international community can detect and take advantage of any willingness by Hamas to compromise, without making ourselves vulnerable to manipulation. How should we interpret this movement, what is the role of Shari'a law in Hama's political behavior and what are the policy implications of the report?

Fighting in Pakistan’s tribal areas rages on, as government forces step up their battle against Taliban fighters and other militants. Pakistan authorities recently said it will go after Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in his stronghold South Waziristan along the Afghan border. USIP’s Imtiaz Ali wrote about Mehsud in Foreign Policy magazine, arguing why this man is the new "public enemy" number one to Washington, D.C. and Islamabad.