Ending Violent Conflicts Requires Preventing Them in the First Place

Authors: Liz Hume and Erol Yayboke

Publication date: October 1, 2020

Abstract: President Trump and former vice president Biden, the two major party candidates for the U.S. presidency, have repeatedly declared they will end so-called endless or forever wars. From Trump’s approach to Syria and Afghanistan to Biden’s focus on terminating U.S. involvement in Yemen’s civil war, their plans differ in substance. But the underlying reason for their shared goal reflects significant levels of deployment fatigue and the broad unpopularity of continued involvement in foreign wars.

Ending current wars—some of which seem endless—is an admirable goal. Doing so responsibly while also focusing on preventing violent conflict is an even better goal.

About the Authors:

Elizabeth Hume is vice president of the Alliance for Peacebuilding and has 20 years’ leadership experience in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Follow on Twitter @Lizhume4peace.

Erol Yayboke is deputy director and senior fellow with the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development.