Our annual reports give an in-depth overview of the activities and finances of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) in the given year.
“2003 was the year in which US unilateralism peaked and gave way to a realization of the limits to US power. The USA was able to occupy Iraq, but was ill-prepared for the task of administering the country and establishing a new Iraqi government. The claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction was based on false or exaggerated intelligence. In addition, the war in Iraq diverted attention from the international struggle to prevent groups within the Al-Qaeda network from carrying out new terrorist attacks. Osama bin Laden remained at large, but Saddam Hussein was found hidden in a hole. The Iraqis got rid of a dictator, but did not get peace. Despite Iraq and the US doctrine of pre-emptive war, the number of armed conflicts and the number of casualties in war seemed to remain on a downward trend. This is analyzed within PRIO’s new Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW). Since the early 1990s, the number of armed conflicts has declined.” – PRIO Director Stein Tønnesson
