The Institute of World Affairs is proud to explore new frontiers in conflict transformation, as explained by Dr. Robert Barrett, our Senior Associate in Strategy, Culture, and Behavior.
Dr. Robert Barrett has joined the Institute of World Affairs (IWA) as “Senior Associate in Strategy, Culture, and Behavior.” Barrett is the author of the bestselling book, HARDWIRED: How Our Instincts to Be Healthy are Making Us Sick (with co-author, Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti). He holds a PhD in conflict analysis and strategic studies. Dr. Barrett has received numerous awards for his work on human behavior. His many appearances on radio and television have covered a broad range of topics from terrorist recruitment to astronaut crew conflict on future Mars missions. Rob’s work in group behavior is also backed by an impressive track record as a human-factors expert and his extensive aviation experience. IWA President, Hrach Gregorian, noted “the Institute of World Affairs has long been aware of Rob Barrett’s impactful work, particularly in evolution and neuroscience as they pertain to war and peace. We are fortunate to attract talent of this caliber to help us build programs to navigate uncertainty in complex, high-stress environments.”
Women in International Security’s Dr. Karin Johnston sits down with co-authors Joyce Kaufman and Kristen Williams to discuss their new book, Gender Race and Power: Examining IR through an Intersectional Lens. WIIS President & CEO Lauren Van Metre provides welcome remarks. Today, we face an increasingly complex and shifting security environment, and the book details, in its chapters, how we gain explanatory power by applying an intersectional analysis to emerging problems—climate, the environment—but also in more mainstream IR issues: war, peace, and security; human rights and humanitarian intervention, and the global economy and development. Watch as Karin, Joyce, and Kristen discuss the importance of the book’s intersectional approach and its timely relevance to the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
(This book talk was recorded live on September 16th, 2025).
Join WIIS on September 16th at 11am ET for a Book Talk featuring Dr. Joyce Kaufman, Director of our Women, Peace and Security Program.
To find previously published materials, you can access our Publications Archive.
To find previously published materials, you can access our Publications Archive.
Dr. Joyce Kaufman and Dr. Hrach Gregorian present findings from a project employing simulation exercises to provide at-risk youth in the District of Columbia with opportunities to test negotiation skills they learned in conflict resolution training workshops. Simulations can both test knowledge and provide instruction utilizing scenarios that challenge participants to formulate a response to “real-world” problems in which they play a stakeholder role. They also are used in academic settings to help students learn about the intricacies of international negotiations. However, seldom are they used to examine how effectively skills are applied in situations participants may actually confront. The program described in this article introduces young people from one of the most violence-prone wards in Washington, D.C. to conflict resolution skills of practical value to them. The capstone simulation provides an opportunity for participants to practice those skills and allows program administrators to evaluate the impact of instruction.
To access the full publication, click here.
The Trump Administration has jettisoned so-called soft power foreign policy practices that for decades created goodwill toward the U.S. and increased American influence around the world at a relatively low cost. An inventory of soft power tools includes humanitarian assistance, investments in public health, conflict resolution and stabilization initiatives, democracy and free speech promotion, and the broadcasting of trustworthy news and information.
The weakening of U.S. soft power comes at a time when the U.S. and other Western governments are seeking to break China’s near monopoly on the mining and processing of strategic materials required by digital infrastructure critical to national defense and for achieving a sustainable energy future.
The massive up-front investment required in mining and related operations renders the current climate of heightened political and operational risk particularly problematic for business interests. The dramatic recent pullback from the use of so-called soft power by the United States has created a vacuum in the human security space that geopolitical rivals are capitalizing on to discredit western business activities in the developing world.
Angola has one of the lowest levels of education in the world despite being a country richly endowed with natural resources. In this video conversation, education activist Rafael Marques de Morais explains how making education a human right can turn this situation around, empowering youth and contributing to the well-being of Angolans. As Executive Director of the Ufolo Good Governance Center, Rafael has been working with the private sector to build badly needed schools in Angola. He is also Senior Advisor to the Extractive Industries and Human Development Center at the Institute of World Affairs. Rafael is joined by Gregory Pirio, Director of the Extractive Industries and Human Development Center, who has studied the role of schools in the promotion of peace and social cohesion. Veteran journalist Paul Ndiho leads the conversation.
This video podcast is a collaboration between Ndiho Media and the Institute of World Affairs.
In January, I had the privilege of spending two weeks in the Persian Gulf (although they call it the Arabian Gulf), touring Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). The trip was thanks to a Kuwaiti woman I met initially in 2008 when she was a Fulbright Scholar at Whittier College, where I was teaching at the time. I worked with another faculty colleague to apply for the Fulbright scholar as part of a new program created after 9/11 called “Outreach to the Islamic World.” The goal of the program was to foster better understanding between the United States and scholars in the Islamic world, broadly defined. We specifically requested a woman who could teach about Islam with a special focus on women and Islam. It turned out Alanoud Alsharekh was the perfect fit. Alanoud spent a semester on campus and then returned as a Visiting Scholar in 2017 under the auspices of the Center for Engagement with Communities at the College when I was the Director. Alanoud had often invited me to visit Kuwait, but the time was never right. This year, in January 2025, the stars aligned.