At the start of the American republic, President George Washington proposed to establish two national academies, one to teach war and one to spread peace. The war academy was approved by Congress and became the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The “peace establishment” did not come into being until 1984, with President Ronald Reagan’s signing of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) Act.

The institute’s founders were members of Congress from both parties, largely veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, who in their wisdom made USIP an independent institute, not a part of the executive branch. They were supported by citizen groups around the country who believed in the value and effectiveness of building peace to reduce our reliance on military force.

Since then, USIP has had bipartisan support across seven presidential administrations to pursue its mission of resolving, negotiating and preventing violent conflicts overseas. With an annual $55 million budget, tiny compared with the Pentagon’s budget of $850 billion, the institute focuses on research, training and practical projects to advance peace.

USIP is prepared to

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