Neil Kritz previews the pending agreement to heal a decade of division between Hamas and Fatah, and explains what effects the reconciliation might have on the larger Middle East Peace Process.
On Peace is a weekly podcast sponsored by USIP and Sirius XM POTUS. Each week, USIP experts tackle the latest foreign policy issues from around the world.
Each year, the U.N. International Day of Living Together in Peace reminds us that true, sustainable peace is achieved not simply by eliminating war, but rather by building tolerance, inclusion, understanding and solidarity among and between communities.
Although the Constitution authorizes the president and the executive branch to lead foreign affairs, it also vests the legislative branch with responsibilities that impact the conduct of diplomacy and statecraft. These include the ability to “declare war,” “raise and support armies,” “regulate commerce with foreign nations” and approve treaties and diplomat appointments, as well as general oversight functions and power to appropriate money from the Treasury.
Established in 2008, the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was tasked with investigating the country’s civil conflict that killed 200 people and displaced more than 20,000 others between 1998 and 2003. The commission was the first of its kind in the Pacific Islands region, and its proponents hoped it could heal people’s lasting trauma by addressing human rights violations, promoting national unity and fostering reconciliation.
Too often, conventional peacebuilding not only overlooks Indigenous peoples — especially women — it dismisses Indigenous methods of building peace as well. But these methods are rooted in deep traditional practices that have a proven history of success. So, while they may differ from current approaches, Indigenous peacebuilding practices offer a chance to expand the peacebuilding field’s understanding and ability to resolve conflict. USIP spoke with several Indigenous leaders at the first Global Summit on Indigenous Peacebuilding about how Indigenous practices can contribute to current peace processes around the world.