Remarks by Andrew J. Shapiro, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Institute of Peace on February 27, 2012:

Thank you very much Tara. It is a great pleasure to be here today at the United States Institute of Peace to talk to you about U.S. efforts to support international peacekeeping operations. USIP has long been a leader in this field. Currently, USIP is teaching conflict mediation techniques for African security personnel in peacekeeping missions across the continent. It is also helping train advisors for Afghan defense and interior ministers. Furthermore, as an intellectual leader in studying and evaluating peacekeeping missions, USIP’s numerous reports and studies are helping those of us in government do our jobs better.

Today – I want to talk about three things.

First, the larger context and significance of international peacekeeping efforts.

Second, I want to talk about U.S. efforts to build peacekeeping capacity.

And lastly, I’ll discuss some of the key challenges confronting peacekeeping operations.

Full text can be found at GPOI's website.