FUNDED by the US Congress, the goals of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) are to help:

• Prevent and resolve violent international conflicts;

• Promote post-conflict stability and development;

• Increase conflict management capacity, tools and intellectual capital worldwide.

The Institute aims to do this by empowering others with knowledge, skills and resources, as well as by directly engaging in peace-building efforts. While USIP is actively involved in peace-building globally, the organization has a special focus on the many conflicts in the Muslim world. USIP has been operating on-the-ground in zones of conflict, most recently in Afghanistan, the Balkans, Colombia, Iraq, Kashmir, Liberia, the Korean Peninsula, Nepal, Pakistan, the Palestinian Territories, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda.

Part of USIP’s mission also involves providing research reports and fact sheets addressing current and ongoing political situations. In June 2008, USIP Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin released a special report that details how Iran extends its sphere of influence across the Middle East. Download it at www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr206.pdf. Additionally, visitors can listen to an audio recording of a public event held at the USIP headquarters featuring Slavin and three discussants who also work in this area. Hear it through www.usip.org/events/2008/0627_mullahs_iran.html.

Under its international education initiatives, USIP has made available online materials for a course in Interfaith Conflict Resolution (www.usip.org/training/online/interfaith.html). Religion is frequently cited as a cause of violent conflict, yet dialogue between faith communities often reveals that religion is not a primary source of tension. Moreover, faith-based approaches to peacemaking can be invaluable in promoting understanding and reconciliation. The USIP course is designed to enhance the peacemaking capacities of individuals and faith-based organizations by focusing on objectives, methods and best practices of interfaith dialogue, a form of religious peacemaking increasingly recognized for its relevance to 21st century conflict. The course also examines the roles that faith leaders can play as third parties in peacemaking efforts. The course applies general principles of faith-based peacemaking to two case studies, highlighting interfaith peacemaking efforts between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, as well as the role that various faith communities played in helping to bring an end to the armed conflict in Guatemala.

Lastly, USIP funds the Muslim World Initiative (www.usip.org/muslimworld/index.html), which is a part of its Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention. A study group functioning under the purview of the Muslim World Initiative will be releasing its overarching report in the autumn on how the United States can sustain and reassert its support for political reform in the Muslim world, while enhancing its security at home and abroad.

If you prefer to learn more about USIP through video resources, check them out at www.youtube.com/user/usinstituteofpeace.