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Conflict Prevention
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Nigeria Security TrackerThe Council on Foreign Relations' Nigeria Security Tracker was an effort to catalog and map political violence based on a weekly survey of Nigerian and international press. The last update to the tracker was July 1, 2023. The data presented included violent incidents related to political, economic, and social grievances directed at the state or other affiliated groups (or, conversely, the state employing violence to respond to those incidents.)
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U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a New Era
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Although a conflict in the Taiwan Strait has thus far been avoided, deterrence has dangerously eroded. To maintain peace, the United States must restore balance to a situation that has been allowed to tilt far too much in China’s favor. -
Moving Past the Troubles: The Future of Northern Ireland PeaceThe Good Friday Agreement has dampened sectarian tensions and brought stability to Northern Ireland, but the peace deal’s twenty-fifth anniversary has been marred by a Brexit-related trade impasse that has thrown the region’s hard-won gains into doubt.
Experts in this Topic
General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action
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Averting Major Power War
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Although no two major powers have openly fought in over three-quarters of a century, growing tensions between the United States, China, India, and Russia threaten renewed conflict. CFR’s Paul B. Stares argues a new logic—“mutual assured survival”—could keep the peace. -
Global Conflict TrackerThe Center for Preventive Action’s Global Conflict Tracker is an interactive guide to ongoing conflicts around the world of concern to the United States.
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North Korean Nuclear NegotiationsNegotiations between the United States and North Korea have proceeded in fits and starts for decades. But they have failed to halt the advance of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
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Conflicts to Watch in 2023For CFR’s annual Preventive Priorities Survey, U.S. foreign policy experts assessed the likelihood and impact of thirty potential conflicts that could emerge or escalate in 2023.
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Enhancing U.S.-Japan Coordination for a Taiwan ConflictHow well the United States and Japan are able to deter an attack on Taiwan and respond jointly and effectively to Chinese aggression if deterrence fails could determine Asia’s future, as well as their own.
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Conflicts to Watch in 2022In CFR’s annual Preventive Priorities Survey, U.S. foreign policy experts assess the likelihood and impact of thirty potential conflicts that could emerge or escalate in the coming year.
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Major Power Rivalry and Multilateral Conflict Management
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Despite growing rivalry among the major powers, multilateral institutions like the United Nations can continue to play a vital role in the management of violent conflict. Washington should look for opportunities to work with these institutions and, where needed, bolster their role in cooperation with other powers to manage future regional threats to peace. -
Major Power Rivalry and the Management of Global Threats
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The United States should regard distrust—not cooperation—as a baseline condition for starting negotiations around shared global threats and challenges with other major powers, such as China and Russia. -
Women’s Participation in Peace ProcessesPeace negotiators often overlook a proven strategy to reduce conflict and advance stability: include women.
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Five Questions on the Western Sahara Peace ProcessThe following interview is with Fatma El Mehdi, one of eight negotiators in the Western Sahara peace process and a leader in the Sahrawi community.
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Nigeria’s Northern Elders Forum: Keeping the Igbo is Not Worth a Civil WarOn June 9, following a closed-door meeting, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) issued a public statement that the Igbo-dominated southeast should be allowed to secede from the Federal Republic of Nigeri…
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In Africa, Major Power Rivalry Is Not the Whole StoryAny doubts about the bipartisan consensus in Washington around the need to compete with China in Africa were erased in the early months of 2021, when senior Biden administration appointees like U.S. …
