History

Laying the Foundation

The Institute''s origins date to the earliest days of the Republic. The idea for the establishment of an official U.S. government institution dedicated to the cause of international peace can be traced back to debates by the framers of the U.S. Constitution. The first formal proposal for the establishment of an official U.S. government peace institution dates to 1792. The product of efforts by architect and publisher Benjamin Banneker and physician and educator Dr. Benjamin Rush, the proposal called for establishing a "Peace Office" on equal footing with the War Department—noting the importance to the welfare of the United States of "an office for promoting and preserving perpetual peace in our country."

Over the years, the idea of an official U.S. peace institute continued to be advocated by a wide array of prominent Americans, including Woodrow Wilson, Jennings Randolph, and Everett Dirksen. In fact, from 1935 to 1976 over 140 bills were introduced in Congress to establish various peace-related departments, agencies, bureaus, and committees of Congress.

Placing the Cornerstone

In 1976, the first cornerstone for the campaign that led to the creation of the U.S. Institute of Peace was laid when Senator Vance Hartke of Indiana and Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon introduced a bill to create the George Washington Peace Academy. After hearings in the Senate on the Hartke-Hatfield bill, it was decided that further study was needed. In 1979, a provision was successfully added to the Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriation Bill for the establishment of the Commission on Proposals for the National Academy of Peace and Conflict Resolution.

A nonpartisan group consisting of appointees named by President Jimmy Carter and the leadership of the House and Senate, the Commission worked for over a year and half. Chaired by Senator Spark Matsunaga of Hawaii, the Matsunaga Commission, as it came to be known, conducted a wide survey and study of the theories, techniques, and institutions involved in the resolution of international conflicts. The commission met with military and government officials, leading educators, conflict resolution professionals, and representatives from various religious, ethnic, and scientific communities. In addition to these sessions, the commission heard from thousands of interested citizens through a series of public meetings held across the nation that resulted in over 6,000 pages of transcripts.

Establishing the Institute

In 1981, after the completion of its deliberations, the Matsunaga Commission issued a final report recommending the creation of a national peace academy. Based upon the recommendations included in the report, bills were subsequently introduced in both houses of Congress under the bipartisan sponsorship of Senators Mark Hatfield, Spark Matsunaga, and Jennings Randolph and Congressman Dan Glickman.

A vigorous public campaign led by Milton C. Mapes of the National Peace Academy Campaign supported these efforts. After considerable debate about the appropriate form of the new institution, the United States Institute of Peace Act was finally passed and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

The Institute''s Board of Directors was installed in February 1986 and held its first meeting. In April of that same year, an initial staff of three people opened the Institute''s first office at 730 Jackson Place NW, Washington, D.C.
The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and development, and increase conflict management capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide.

The Institute does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by directly engaging in peacebuilding efforts around the globe.

Peacebuilding: A Global Imperative

It is essential that the United States, working with the international community, play an active part in preventing, managing, and resolving conflicts. Fragile states, ethnic and religious strife, extremism, competition for scarce resources and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction all pose significant challenges to peace. The resulting suffering and destabilization of societies make effective forms of managing conflict imperative. The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is dedicated to meeting this imperative in new and innovative ways.

USIP''''s Mission and Goals

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals 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 does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by directly engaging in peacebuilding efforts around the globe.

USIP''''s Programs and Activities

In order to achieve the above goals, the Institute undertakes a unique combination of activities, including the following:

- 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. Specific projects involve:
- Mediating and facilitating dialogue among parties in conflict
- Building conflict management skills and capacity
- Identifying and disseminating best practices in conflict management
- Promoting the rule of law
- Reforming/strengthening education systems
- Strengthening civil society and state-building
- Educating the public through events, films, radio programs, and an array of other outreach activities
- Performing cutting edge research resulting in publications for practitioners, policymakers, and academia (over 400 to date).
- Identifying best practices and developing innovative peacebuilding tools. Tools developed by USIP include a seminal set of books on international mediation, a portfolio of resources on religious peacemaking, a toolkit for promoting the rule of law in fragile states, guidelines for civilian and military interaction in hostile environments, a preeminent series on cultural negotiating behavior, and field-defining textbooks on conflict management.
- Training on conflict management—including mediation and negotiation skills—to government and military personnel, civil society leaders, and the staff of non-governmental and international organizations.
- Educating high school and college students about conflict, strengthening related curricula, and increasing the peacebuilding capabilities of future leaders.
- Supporting policymakers by providing analyses, policy options, and advice, as well as by sponsoring a wide range of country-oriented working groups. Recent efforts include the Iraq Study Group; Task Force on the United Nations; and standing working groups on Afghanistan, Cote d''''Ivoire, DRC, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Korea, Liberia, Syria, and Sudan.

Expertise

The United States Institute of Peace draws on a variety of resources in fulfilling its mandate, including Institute staff, grantees, fellows, and a broad set of governmental and non-governmental partners:

- Institute Specialists. The Institute employs more than 70 specialists with both geographic and subject-matter expertise. These experts are leaders in their fields. They come from the government, military, NGOs, academia, and the private sector. .
- Partners/Grantees. The Institute works with an extensive network of partners, including non-profits, academic institutions, government agencies, international organizations, and the military. Through its grantmaking program, the Institute has invested $58 million in over 1,700 peacebuilding projects in 76 countries around the world.
- Jennings Randolph Fellows. The Jennings Randolph Program for International Peace awards residential fellowship annually. Since the program’s inception, Senior Fellows have produced more than 125 books and special reports. The Jennings Randolph program also awards non-resident Peace Scholar Fellowships to students at U.S. universities working on doctoral dissertations related to the Institute''''s mandate.