Congress has instructed the Institute to explore international conflict as broadly as possible—from examining philosophical questions of war and peace to scrutinizing particular conflicts with the aim of developing options or their non-violent resolution. To these ends, the Institute employs these programs and initiatives:

Programs

Congressional and Public Affairs: The Office of Congressional and Public Affairs strives to make the work of the Institute available to a range of audiences, from senior government officials to the general public. It does this by working with the media, convening public events, scheduling speaking engagements by Institute specialists, and other means.

Education: The Education Program defines, creates, and supports educational activities and curricula that help teachers and students, in the United States and abroad, understand international conflict resolution and build the capacities of future peacemakers.

Fellowships: The Jennings Randolph Program for International Peace each year awards Senior Fellowships to 12–15 foreign policy scholars, policymakers, and journalists who conduct research on important aspects of international conflict and peace. The Fellowship Program also awards non-resident Peace Scholar Dissertation Fellowships to students at U.S. universities researching and writing doctoral dissertations on international peace and conflict.

Library: In addition to its in-house collections, the Jeannette Rankin Library has placed online the full texts of numerous peace agreements and documents relating to truth commissions plus annotated links to related web sites.

Grants: Through its two principal grant components—unsolicited grants and solicited grants—the Institute offers financial support for research, education, training, and the dissemination of information on international peace and conflict resolution.

Information and Communications Technology Services: Information and Communications Technology Services is responsible for overseeing the operations of the Institute's information systems; developing, implementing, and enforcing policies and practices that enable smooth operation of these systems; and advising senior management on related issues.

Peace and Stability Operations: Beginning in the Balkans in the mid-1990s, the Institute has applied theories of conflict management to practical activities of prevention and management of conflict in conflict zones abroad, especially Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Philippines. Institute-wide efforts involve training of political and civil society leaders in the skills of conflict management, promotion of the rule of law and promotion of dialogue among parties in conflict.

Professional Training: The Professional Training Program develops and offers highly interactive programs that help government officials, military and police personnel, international organization representatives, and others acquire skills to handle all phases of conflict from origin to resolution and aftermath.

Publications: The Institute publishes a broad range of products, from brief reports to books, all concerned with various aspects of international conflict and its resolution.

Research and Studies: The Research and Studies Program develops and disseminates valuable knowledge on the prevention, management, and peaceful resolution of conflicts through working groups, public meetings, written products, and other forms of research and analysis.

Rule of Law: The Rule of Law Program builds upon and refines principles of the rule of law articulated by various international bodies and provides governments and policymakers with practical guidance for their implementation.

Special Initiatives

Balkans: The Institute's Balkans Initiative works to promote peace and reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia and environs, to build consensus on Balkans policy in Washington, D.C., and to develop greater understanding among Americans of the U.S. role in maintaining peace in the Balkans.

Muslim World: The Special Initiative on the Muslim World addresses a broad range of political, social, cultural, and religious questions, many of which have come to light in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11. The initiative explores approaches to increasing the prospects for long-term understanding between the Western and Islamic worlds, and develops crisis management strategies for dealing with and resolving conflicts in the Muslim world.

Religion and Peacemaking: The Religion and Peacemaking Initiative works to enhance the capacity of faith communities to be forces for peace. It builds upon the Institute's earlier initiative on Religion, Ethics, and Human Rights, whose primary focus was on the role of religion in world conflicts and the applicability of human rights norms to such conflicts.

Virtual Diplomacy: The Virtual Diplomacy Initiative helps scholars and practitioners better understand and apply information and communications technologies in preventing, managing, and resolving international conflict.

Projects

Philippine Facilitation Project: At the request of the administration, the Institute is facilitating peace negotiations between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a Muslim insurgent group operating in the southern island of Mindanao.