Since the election in December 2007, Kenya has witnessed an unprecedented degree of postelection violence that has produced large numbers of victims, including hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs). This persistent insecurity… Read more
President Barack Obama’s policy of a conditions-based redeployment in Afghanistan starting in July 2011 leaves him a lot of flexibility. The administration will likely decide to maintain the troop numbers in Afghanistan near the surge level next year,… Read more
The massive earthquake of January 2010 devastated almost every aspect of Haitian society, but it also presented an excellent opportunity to address the problems of the largely dysfunctional education sector. Summary The massive earthquake of January 2010… Read more
Six months after the Haiti earthquake, the official statistics remain difficult to fully comprehend. Some 222,750 people were killed, and 300,000 injured. More than 1.3 million were displaced. Total damage was $7.8 billion. Losses from the quake were… Read more
The emerging Iraq is starting to look like other parliamentary democracies, measuring itself with democratic yardsticks, with internal sectarian and ethnic frictions still strong but being worked out through politics, and with neighbors who won’t leave… Read more
The spread of old and new infectious diseases constitutes both a threat to U.S. and global security and peace and an opportunity for the United States to burnish its international image through strengthening foreign capacity in infectious disease… Read more
The institution of Iraq's prime minister has evolved since the previous national government was formed in 2006. The success of incumbent Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki in building an independent power base around the office and the diminishing U.S… Read more
Most experts view secession as the most likely outcome of the 2011 referendum on southern Sudan's potential secession. While this scenario may lead to some stability in the long run, effective secession immediately after the referendum may prove… Read more
Afghanistan is an exceptionally fissiparous country, riven by innumerable conflicts over scarce resources and longstanding enmities between neighboring groups. Traditionally, such disputes have been managed by ad hoc groups of elders, known as jirgas or… Read more
The next seven months leading up to the December policy review will be crucial for Afghanistan’s future; at that time the Obama administration—and the citizens of Afghanistan, the United States and ISAF nations—will make a judgment about progress towards… Read more
Political, socioeconomic or cultural inequalities among groups could potentially motivate political violence in societies. Research has shown that political inequalities between groups are most likely to motivate leaders, while socioeconomic inequalities… Read more
Haiti’s January 12 earthquake left up to 300,000 people dead, an equal number injured, and more than a million displaced; overall damage and loss are valued at $7.9 billion, or about 120 percent of Haiti’s 2009 grian relief and security, loss domestic… Read more