This Week in South Sudan – Week 8

Monday 17 February Salva Kiir admitted to having organised a private army.  Tuesday 18 February Fighting reported in Malakal, Upper Nile. Malkal divided between government forces and the opposition. Fighting reported in Warrap State. Wednesday 19 February US condemns the violence in Upper Nile. Uganda announced that the Ugandan Forces will be withdrawn from South… Read more »

Violence and Non-Violence in Ukraine

Photo from Wikipedia

​​​The Ukrainian opposition is more likely to succeed if its campaign remains primarily non-violent, writes Marianne Dahl, Doctoral Researcher at PRIO.

​This is not the first time that Kiev’s streets have been filled with demonstrators wanting to end Viktor Yanukovych’s days in the presidential palace.Read More

Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities

[Originally written 30 January] Peace talks between the Government of South Sudan and its opposition within the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) facilitated by the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) started in Addis Ababa in early January. On the 23rd the parties signed an agreement of cessation of hostilities committing to “cease all military actions… Read more »

This Week in South Sudan – Week 7

 Monday 10 February Riek Machar announced, on behalf of the opposition, that they would not attend the next round of the peace negotiations as the released detainees were not invited to the negotiation table. Tuesday 11 February Public rally for peace and reconciliation in Juba, more than 4000 participated. South Sudanese president Salva Kiir terminated… Read more »

Myanmar’s National Census – Helping or Disrupting Peace?

Myanmar_Census_2014In March/April 2014 Myanmar will carry out its first population and housing census in more than 30 years. If carried out properly it may provide reliable data to be used not just by the government, but also by civil society organizations and political parties, as a basis for negotiating the terms of the country’s future peace.Read More

Ein Hijleh: A new Boost for the Popular Resistance

31 jan - village Haitham al khatib

The grassroots popular resistance movement in the West Bank continues its strategy of reclaiming Palestinian land to highlight how Israel slowly annexes big parts of the West Bank. This time they did not establish a new village, like the case was in early 2013, with Bab al-Shams and its offshoots. Instead, they re-established an existing village in the vicinity of Jericho. Its inhabitants were expelled by the Israeli army, which established a base near the site. Their descendants have been denied access to the village ever since.

Read more in the blog post published February 12, 2014 on the New Middle East Blog 

Monitoring the situation in South Sudan

15 December 2013 conflict broke out between army fractions in South Sudan.  So far, more than 1000 are said to be dead and 800,000 to have fled their homes in the world’s newest state. The conflict has generated considerable media attention and developments are followed by the Norwegian government and other countries which have invested… Read more »

The Syrian Refugee Crisis and Conflict Spillover

The Syrian refugee crisis has been heartbreaking to watch. According to the United Nations, over 2.4 million people have fled the country, and many more have been displaced internally. This human tragedy has shocked the world’s conscience and has led for appeals for humanitarian relief. However, does the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees also pose security challenges for host countries?

A close-up view of the Za’atri camp for Syrian refugees. Photo from Wikipedia

Today, PRIO researcher Kristian Skrede Gleditsch and Idean Salehyan have published a guest blog post on Political Violence @ a GlanceRead More