United States Institute of Peace Weekly Bulletin 9/30/2022

 

Why is Biden Hosting the First U.S-Pacific Islands Summit Now? While strategic competition with China is a major force behind U.S. reengagement with the Pacific Islands, President Biden’s summit with regional leaders brings attention to U.S. interests in the Pacific that long predate the current era of U.S.-China rivalry, say USIP’s Brian Harding and Camilla Pohle-Anderson. For more on the summit, listen to Harding on this week’s “On Peace” podcast. Read the analysis Pakistan Presses U.S. to Lead Global Response to Climate Disasters Unprecedented flooding in Pakistan should catalyze a more effective international effort to help countries vulnerable to climate disasters — particularly in the Global South, which disproportionately bears the burden of climate change, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said at USIP this week. Read the analysis Want more accountability for the Taliban? Give more money for human rights monitoring. In the past year, the Taliban have engaged in a full-scale assault on Afghans’ human rights. But reports of grave violations are not being met with the resources needed to hold the Taliban accountable. Reversing this trend should be a U.S. policy priority going forward, say USIP’s Belquis Ahmadi and Scott Worden. Read the commentary Four Ways to Include Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Atrocity Prevention Conflict-related sexual violence is not only an indicator of rising atrocity risk — it can also constitute an atrocity crime itself. As the United States implements a new atrocity prevention strategy, USIP’s Lauren Baillie, Kathleen Kuehnast and Mikaylah Ladue offer four ways to address conflict-related sexual violence. Read the commentary U.S. to Move Afghanistan’s Frozen Central Bank Reserves to New Swiss Fund The U.S. and Swiss governments recently unveiled the “Fund for the Afghan People” for previously frozen Afghan central bank reserves. USIP’s William Byrd looks at what this development means, realistic expectations for disbursing the reserves and what needs to happen next for the Afghan people. Read the analysis Education in North Korea: Playing the Long Game From the outside, the barriers to engagement with North Korea might seem hopelessly insurmountable. Choson Exchange’s Ian Bennett and Jamin Jamieson explain how their organization is working to empower North Korean entrepreneurs as a viable path toward change and a healthy civil society. Read the analysis Give Haiti Another Chance — and the Support It Needs Amid a clearly unfolding humanitarian disaster, many friends of Haiti are arguing that everything has been tried and little has worked. But turning our backs now will only consign the country to misery, violence and hunger — and there is still a way out of the current dead end, says USIP’s Keith Mines. Read the commentary The 1963 Franco-German Reconciliation Treaty: A Guide for Japan and South Korea? Relations between Japan and South Korea are at a dead end. As leaders in Seoul and Tokyo look to “rethink” the relationship, conflict-resolution practices beyond East Asia like the 1963 Franco-German Reconciliation Treaty offer lessons for improving Japan-South Korea ties, says Lily Gardner Feldman. Read the analysis USIP Explains: How Climate Change Impacts U.S. Security Last year, the U.S. government released a National Intelligence Estimate focused on explaining the risks that climate change poses to America’s security over the next few decades. USIP’s Tegan Blaine discusses the report and the relationship between climate, conflict and political instability. Watch Now

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