RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ian Livingston and Michael E. O'Hanlon, December 22, 2011, Foreignpolicy.com
As students of counterinsurgency know, it is difficult to find the right metrics to evaluate how a war effort is going. Michael O'Hanlon and Ian Livingston take a look back at how the Iraq Index evolved over the course of the Iraq war and examine 10 categories of key indicators, what they meant to the war effort and where they place Iraq on its path forward. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Elizabeth Ferris, September 2011, A Global Agenda: Issues Before the United Nations (United Nations Association of the USA, 2011-2012)
Elizabeth Ferris writes on the complex patterns of refugee displacement from Iraq since the U.S. invasion and fall of Saddam Hussein, focusing on the millions of Iraqis that fled their communities as a result of violence and insecurity. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
April 2010, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
This Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement study served as a background document for a November 18-19, 2009 conference in Doha, Qatar with representatives from the governments of Iraq and other countries in the region, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and donor countries. The process sought to identify actions which can be taken to prevent Iraqi displacement from becoming a protracted situation with long-term negative consequences for the displaced, for displacement-affected communities and for the region as a whole. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
February 16, 2010, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
Decades of insecurity and violence have led to the displacement of millions in Iraq. Finding durable solutions for internally and externally displaced Iraqis will require the support of a wide range of actors. This new report by the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement summarizes the discussions that took place at a November 2009 conference in Doha, Qatar surrounding humanitarian- and development-based solutions to Iraq's displacement crisis. Read More
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
On November 18, the Brookings Doha Center hosted a conference on Iraq’s internally displaced persons and refugees. Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement Project Co-Director Elizabeth Ferris spoke, along with key players who are working to address this ongoing crisis, including Samantha Power, White House coordinator for Iraqi refugees and displaced persons and Abdel Khaliq Mohammad Rasheed Zangana, chairman of the Committee for the Relocated, Displaced and Migrants, Council of Representatives of Iraq. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Elizabeth Ferris, July 07, 2009, UCLA Conference on Peace and Reconciliation: Embracing the Displaced
Displacement is one of the tragic consequences of conflict. Elizabeth Ferris argues that once a conflict ends, resolving displacement and preventing future displacement is inextricably linked with achieving a lasting peace. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Elizabeth Ferris, July 02, 2009, International Association for the Study of Forced Migration Annual Conference, Nicosia, Cyprus
Recently discussion has turned to the prospects for the large-scale return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to Iraq. More than 4 million Iraqis have been displaced, either internally or externally. And while the Iraqi and US governments, policymakers in the region, and humanitarian actors assume that most will return to Iraq in the near future, Elizabeth Ferris points out that experience with other displacement crises indicates that return will be neither automatic nor straightforward. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jamille Bigio and Jen Scott, June 2009, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
With increased levels of security in Iraq in 2008-9, displaced persons have begun to make decisions about their future: whether to return to their place of origin, locally integrate or resettle in a third location. As Jamille Bigio and Jen Scott argue, the time is ripe to assess how the government of Iraq, with the support of international and national actors, can advance the process of achieving durable solutions to displacement. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Justin Vaïsse and Sebastian Gräfe, April 23, 2009, The Brookings Institution
To explore the strategies by which Europe can increase its commitment in Iraq and make a constructive difference, the Center on the U.S. and Europe and the Heinrich Böll Foundation convened a workshop in April 2009. In this paper, Justin Vaisse and Sebastian Gräfe summarize the consolidated advice advocated by the workshop participants. Read More
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
9:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Washington, DC
On April 1, the Center on the U.S. and Europe and the Heinrich Böll Foundation convened a workshop to explore the strategies by which Europe can increase its commitment in Iraq and make a constructive difference. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Sermid D. Al-Sarraf, Esq., Yolande Bouka, J. O'Neil G. Pouliot and Andrew Solomon, February 2009, International Network to Promote the Rule of Law, USIP
Post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization requires protecting and assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have been uprooted from their homes and made vulnerable to violence, exploitation, discrimination and other human rights violations. In this paper, Andrew Solomon and others review the international standards and best practices for protecting the housing, land and property rights of IDPs. Read More
PAST EVENT
Friday, February 20, 2009
12:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Washington, DC
The basic principles of humanitarian action are being challenged from all sides. Upholding the neutrality of humanitarian action and protecting humanitarian space is increasingly difficult and perhaps nowhere as much as in Afghanistan and Iraq. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Hady Amr, Elizabeth Ferris, Khalid Koser and Susanne Schmeidl, February 16, 2009, The Brookings Instituion
Iraq and Afghanistan face displacement crises of massive proportions. According to best estimates, the number approaches two million refugees and 2.8 million IDPs. Although the pace of displacement has slowed since mid-2007, few IDPs and refugees have been able to return, their resources are running out, and international assistance has been inadequate. The longer displacement lasts, the more complicated it will be to resolve. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Hady Amr and Elizabeth Ferris, February 16, 2009, Human Development Task Force, U.S.-Islamic World Forum
Throughout the Muslim world, millions of people have been forced to flee their homes and communities for many reasons, including both conflicts and natural disasters. This massive displacement of people affects both national development plans and individual human development, affecting relationships between countries, UN Security Council discussions, and peace processes. In short, as Hady Amr and Elizabeth Ferris argue, understanding—and resolving—displacement is central to development, peace, and security. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Michael E. O'Hanlon and Raid Juhi Hamadi al Saedi, February 09, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Michael O'Hanlon and Raid Juhi Hamadi al Saedi, the judge who presided over Saddam Hussein's trial, write that Iraq's recent progress is fragile and several major unresolved issues could threaten the country's future stability. Nothing is more fundamental, they argue, than the effort to help more than 4 million individuals displaced by violence to return home safely without igniting another round of sectarian killing and cleansing as they do so. Read More