As an independent, nonpartisan national thought leader with more than 30 years of experience, the U.S. Institute of Peace convenes people from various sides of an issue and facilitates constructive solutions to prevent and reduce violent conflict. Its events help shape public policy and priorities to advance peaceful solutions to conflict and strengthen international security.
Following President Ashraf Ghani’s late February peace offer to the Taliban, a series of major international conferences that consolidated support for a peace deal, and a wave of pro-peace demonstrations across Afghanistan crucial questions remain: What it will take to get the Taliban to join peace talks in earnest? What will a prospective peace agreement look like? How does the peace process affect the Afghan and international military campaign?
After two five-year terms and multiple delayed elections during the controversial presidency of Joseph Kabila, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has scheduled presidential elections for December 2018. Although hopes are high, and several Congolese contenders have publicly announced their intentions for candidacy, popular frustrations and distrust of President Kabila, whose term expired in December 2016, continue to fuel fears of rigged elections.