BI ArticleThe "Two Taproot (or Fuses) Theory" of Social Unrest
Civil rights mediators from the Community Relations Service discuss why racial violence happens--and what needs to be done to prevent it.
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Civic Knowledge and Skills That We All Need to Constructively Handle Intractable Conflict >
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A Collective Strategy for Protecting Democracy from Bad-Faith Actors
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BI Article
The "Two Taproot (or Fuses) Theory" of Social Unrest
Civil rights mediators from the Community Relations Service discuss why racial violence happens--and what needs to be done to prevent it.
BI Article
Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of Ex-Combatants
Disarming and demobilizing military forces (especially militias) and successfully reintegrating the former warriors into a peaceful society is one of the major challenges of a post-violence or "post-conflict" peacebuilding stage of a violent conflict.
BI Article
Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
This essay considers arms control broadly, referring to all forms of cooperation between potential adversaries geared toward reducing the likeliness of war, the economic costs of preparing for war and limiting the scope of violence should war occur.
BI Article
Mediating Evil, War, and Terrorism: The Politics of Conflict
This essay discusses alternative ways that political systems, individual peacebuilders, and "regular" people can address violence and evil, suggesting that some approaches perpetuate or even escalate the evil, while other approaches disarm it and render it an ineffective mode of action.
BI Article
Preventive Diplomacy and International Violence Prevention
Violence prevention has evolved from being focused almost exclusively on short-term interventions. It now refers to long-term initiatives that target the root causes of conflict.
BI Article
Peacekeepers
When violence breaks out, the community needs to employ measures to stop harmful conflict in its tracks. The police and UN peacekeepers can act as peacekeepers, but it is a community function too. Parents, teachers, co-workers all can be peacekeepers in their own domains, as is described in this essay.
Related Folders
Geopolitical Threat Monitors
Geopolitical Threat Monitors alert us to the fact that geopolitical rivals are threatening and sometimes directly attacking Western democracies.
Related Folders
Large Scale Aggression
When small scale violence grows to encompass much of a society -- or multiple societies -- it can usually be called war. But war, increasingly, takes a variety of forms, including traditional warfare tactics of guns, bombs, tanks, and missiles, to what is called "gray zone" or "hybrid warfare" that includes information warfare, lawfare, and other "soft" strategies, along with terrorism, which deliberately targets civilians for the purpose of instilling fear and demoralization.
Colleague Activities
A Pivot To Prevention: How The 118th Congress Can Prevent Violent Conflict & Build Peace Globally
A briefing book for the U.S. Congress (and interested others) on what Congress can do to further peace in 2023.
Colleague Activities
A Pivot To Prevention: How The 118th Congress Can Prevent Violent Conflict & Build Peace Globally
A briefing book for the U.S. Congress (and interested others) on what Congress can do to further peace in 2023.
Colleague Activities
Got Conflict? Let's Talk Peacebuilding! Podcast
Two new episodes discuss what is driving record-breaking global violent conflict, and more importantly, what we can do to prevent and reduce violent conflict and build sustainable peace.
News and Opinion
The Future of American Warfare Is Unfolding in Ukraine
Thoughtful reflections on the differences between US interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine and what this means for the future of war (and prospects for preventing war).
News and Opinion
Do 'Ordinary' People Commit War Crimes?
Evidence that, under sufficiently terrible circumstances, normal people can commit unspeakable atrocities and another reason why we have to prevent such circumstances.
News and Opinion
How Football Might Prevent Iraq's Next Civil War
A hopeful story about a sports team that is helping span social and political divides in ways that are helping reduce tensions.
News and Opinion
The United States Needs a Moonshot to Prevent Extremism from Metastasizing
From the RAND Corporation (and the military-industrial complex), an overview of the latest thinking on strategies for combating extremism.
News and Opinion
World War III Will Be Fought With Viruses
Yet another reason why we should not assume that catastrophic world wars are a thing of the past. The time has come to give war prevention the additional attention it deserves.
News and Opinion
Another Ethnic Cleansing Could Be Underway --- and We're Not Paying Attention
A reminder that efforts to prevent "ethnic cleansing" and genocidal violence require constant vigilance and an ability to act in low-profile cases that escape global attention.
News and Opinion
Rachel Kleinfeld on the Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump and the Rise of Political Violence in America
In this emergency podcast, Yascha Mounk and Rachel Kleinfeld discuss how to prevent a spiral of violence.
News and Opinion
How to Prevent a Spiral of Political Violence in America
From Foreign Affairs, a report on new research on strategies for limiting the threat posed by political violence in the US.
News and Opinion
Israel's deterrence is working against Iran's threats - opinion
As Israel and the world waits for the expected Iranian attack, a hopeful argument that Israel is reestablishing the system of deterrence that, for years, successfully prevented a wider war.
News and Opinion
Gaza's Suffering Is Unprecedented
A sobering reminder of the immense suffering produced by the ongoing war in Gaza and an eloquent appeal for all concerned to take the steps needed to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
News and Opinion
Totaling Up the Damage in Gaza After a Year of War
An inventory of the incredible human costs of the war in Gaza and a reminder of why war prevention is so important.