International Peace Institute

The International Peace Institute (IPI, formerly the International Peace Academy) is an independent non-profit think tank founded in 1970 based in New York. The institute has a regional office in the Middle East (Manama, Bahrain) and had a regional office in Europe (Vienna, Austria) until 2020.

IPI specializes in multilateral approaches to peace and security issues, working closely with the United Nations system and its member states. Areas of focus include peace operations; peace, climate, and sustainable development; women, peace, and security; and human rights and humanitarian affairs.

IPI states that it produces “evidence-based analysis and practical policy recommendations to inform debate and guide decision making on complex and emerging issues;” that it “engages policy- and decision-makers from the United Nations System, member states, regional organizations, civil society, and the private sector through candid discussion;” and that it “provides innovative and strategic advice on multilateral processes to these partners to help them develop and implement achievable and sustainable solutions.”

As of May 2024, IPI has a staff of approximately 38. Since March 2021, Zeid bin Ra'ad Al Hussein has been the President and CEO of IPI with Adam Lupel as Vice President and COO.

History
The International Peace Institute was created with support from UN Secretary-General U Thant in 1970, originally with the purpose of studying UN peacekeeping and developing peacekeeping doctrine, with strong financial backing from Ruth Forbes Paine Young.

Its first President was Maj. Gen. Indar Jit Rikhye, Indian commanding officer of UN peacekeeping forces and a former military advisor to the UN Secretary-General. Under his tenure, IPI initiated an innovative program aimed at training civilians and military officers together for the challenges of preventing conflict and building peace. In 1990, under Olara Otunnu, a Ugandan diplomat and politician, IPI branched out into the political dimensions of war and peace. During this time, IPI became known for its case studies of UN field operations and for its forward-looking analysis on new roles for the UN in the security sphere. Otunnu also initiated IPI's Africa Program, currently its longest-running program.

David M. Malone, a Canadian scholar-diplomat, took over as President in 1998, followed by Terje Rød-Larsen, from 2005 to 2020, a Norwegian sociologist and diplomat who has served the UN as its senior envoy in the Middle East, and a principal architect of the 1990s Oslo Peace Accords.

IPI today focuses its work on multilateral cooperation, peace operations, climate change and sustainable development, women, peace, and security, human rights and humanitarian affairs.

General
The IPI works in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia that involves interacting with international diplomats, dignitaries and scholars (especially from the United Nations) to achieve its goals. These include direct consultation with diplomats and officials, conducting research and publishing reports, convening discussions and presentations, and encouraging and facilitating diplomatic activities of others.

The IPI has convened "high-level" discussion panels made up of international diplomats, dignitaries and scholars (especially from the United Nations) to discuss major issues in international affairs affecting international peace and security.

The organization publishes a wide range of reports relating to international diplomacy, peacekeeping and humanitarian responses to crisis.

Vienna Seminar
The International Peace Institute (IPI) Vienna Seminar on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping is an annual event, held in Vienna, Austria since 1970. Over the years it has become a widely recognized forum for discussion of peace and security issues, addressed in a broad sense. It operates with additional support from the Austrian and Viennese governments, and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. The event includes presentations by major international diplomats and political officials.

Funding
In 2020 Verdens Gang wrote that IPI has received 130 million Norwegian kroner "through the years", from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation donated 375,000 dollars in 2012.

According to the IPI website, the organisation is funded by governments, philanthropic foundations, and individuals. Roughly 70% of annual funds are from government donors, and 22% of our funds are from philanthropic foundations. The remaining funds come from corporate sponsors, individuals, and board members.

In 2020-2021 financial statements IPI declared US$10,311,911 in assets.

Leadership

 * Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussien— IPI President.
 * Adam Lupel — IPI Vice President.
 * Jean Todt — Chair of the IPI's Board of Directors; UN Special Envoy for Road Safety and former president of Federation Internationale de L’Automobile.
 * Cliff Perlman - Board Member; Attorney at Law.

Notable individuals

 * Kevin Rudd - Former Chair of IPI's Board of Directors, and the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013.


 * António Guterres — former Honorary Chair, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
 * Ban Ki-moon — Honorary Chair (Secretary-General of the United Nations). Stepped down from IPI in 2016.
 * Rita Hauser — former chairman of the board of directors, U.S. diplomat to the United Nations for the administration of President Nixon, intelligence advisor to the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
 * Terje Rød-Larsen — former president of the foundation, Norwegian diplomat.
 * Mortimer Benjamin Zuckerman — former vice chairman, secretary & treasurer; owner, editor-in-chief and publisher of the New York Daily News newspaper and U.S. News & World Report magazine; chairman-emeritus of Boston Properties, Inc.
 * Edward Luck — senior vice president, director of studies and historian, special adviser to the UN Secretary-General.
 * Elizabeth M. Cousens — former vice president, chief of staff to the United Nations Mission in Nepal, policy advisor and counselor to the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
 * John Hirsch — senior adviser; former U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone.
 * Warren Hoge — senior adviser for external relations.
 * Turki bin Faisal Al Saud — member of International Advisory Council, former Ambassador to the United Kingdom and the United States.
 * Youssef Mahmoud — IPI Senior Adviser; Former UN Under-Secretary-General.
 * Michelle Yeoh — Member of IPI’s Board of Directors, actress.