Opinions & Insights

Opinions & Insights

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November 08, 2018

Leadership Change and Violent State Repression

New leadership has brought a renewed effort to resolve the military dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea and may help promote an end to Ethiopia’s domestic insurgencies. Could these positive developments also influence violent state repression in Ethiopia as it continues toward democratic reform?
November 08, 2018

Promoting Girls’ Empowerment to Reach Gender Equality

Women’s participation has been recognized as fundamental for both the full realization of human rights and the possibility of sustainable peace. Yet women’s presence in politics remains low. What can be done to embolden the female youth of today to strive for equality?
September 23, 2018

Is There Really Evidence for a Decline of War?

Is the world becoming more peaceful? Recent decades have clearly been more peaceful than average. A number of people argue that this peaceful period is more than a temporary phenomenon and actually represents a consistent decline in war over the past two centuries. If so, we could reasonably expect ...
August 21, 2018

Does Focusing on Victimhood Perpetuate Conflict?

In creating an international day for victims of terrorism, the UN emphasizes “the important role of victims in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism.” But what if its emphasis on the word victim deepens conflict and makes peace less likely? The focus should be on agency and empowerme...
August 20, 2018

Violence and Votes: Do Coups Follow Coups?

This is the fourth post in a five-part, weekly series on elections in dictatorships. Visit our CoupCast site for information about our REIGN database and previous commentary on coups d’état.