A discussion on mediation in the context of the ongoing conflicts in Libya, Syria, and Yemen drew more than 60 participants, including high-level diplomats and United Nations officials, to the Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN on November 30, 2016.The expert group of panelists included UN Under Secretary-General Jamal Benomar, who for 4 years […]
Read more
The violence in the Middle East obfuscates the fact that there exists also a story of peace efforts across the region—a story of small successes, big frustrations, setbacks, and failures. Through these efforts, UN mediators have sought to achieve the often irreconcilable goals of ending violence while facilitating a political transition and reconciling the parties.
Read more
After nearly thirty years without peace, the conflict over the region of Karabakh, which pits Azerbaijan and Armenia against one another, has been called a “frozen conflict.” But with deadly fire across the line of contact every year, it is more accurate to say that the settlement process, rather than the conflict, is frozen. International […]
Read more
Kofi Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi appeared to be the perfect candidates to find a way out of the Syrian civil war. The odds, however, were stacked against them. The Syrian regime was prepared to do whatever necessary to survive, whatever the cost to the country. At the same time, the opposition was unwilling to accept […]
Read more
Discussing her new book The Lonely War: One Woman’s Account of the Struggle for Modern Iran at IPI on December 15th, author Nazila Fathi said that 35 years after the revolution, Iran is divided between hardliners and a large moderate middle class, but admitted that it is still unclear which of the two sides will […]
Read more
As two rival parliaments and administrations in Tripoli and Tobruk currently vie for control of the government in Libya, a new UN-brokered initiative is attempting to renew a national dialogue process.
Read more
Yemen remains the only site of an Arab Spring uprising that ended in a negotiated agreement and an internationally supported transition process. In light of the recent conflict in the North of Yemen and Sana’a, with a constitution-drafting process underway, a referendum to approve a draft constitution, and coming elections all within the next year, […]
Read more
This issue brief examines the current state of women’s involvement in formal peace processes, focusing on the role of lead mediators. While traditional approaches to international conflict mediation are falling short in the face of 21st-century violence, one possible source of fresh perspectives and alternative approaches remains largely untapped: women.
Read more
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has festered for decades, with periodic outbursts of violence, as negotiations mediated by the United States have produced no viable solutions. In Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East, author Rashid Khalidi examines what he calls the failure of the U.S.’s role as the impartial broker […]
Read more
The UN Secretary-General’s good offices on Myanmar, now in their twentieth year, have been one of the longest such diplomatic efforts in the history of the organization. With Myanmar now in the midst of major political, economic, and social reforms, and questions invariably being raised about the future of those “offices,” it is an opportune […]
Read moreIf any country, particularly the US, wants to prevent further Chinese gains in the SCS, it will need to substantially increase investment in military capabilities, diplomacy, and…
The lessons from New Caledonia have implications for independence movements in other places like Catalonia, Iraqi Kurdistan, and West…
In the lead up to the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325, perhaps one of the boldest steps the global community can make is to truly upend how it approaches peace: to move away from ideas of merely including women in broken processes, and to move towards creating necessary systemic…
United Nations
Vienna Office Freyung 3
1010 Vienna, Austria
Phone: +43-1-533-8881
Middle East Regional Office
51-52 Harbour House,
Bahrain Financial Harbour
Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
Phone: +973-1721-1344
The International Peace Institute is an independent, international not-for-profit think tank with a staff representing more than 20 nationalities, located in New York across from United Nations headquarters. IPI is dedicated to promoting the prevention and resolution of conflicts between and within states by strengthening international peace and security institutions. To achieve its purpose, IPI employs a mix of policy research, convening, publishing and outreach.
The Global Observatory provides timely analysis on trends and issues related to global security.
777 United Nations Plaza, New York
