"Policymakers are turning to us more now than they did 18 months ago," West said in an interview about the impact of the Iraq war on the USIP's work.
Before Baghdad, the think tank was best known for its work in the Balkans during the 1990s for training peacekeepers. The institute was given $3 million from the State Department last year to facilitate peace talks between the government of the Philippines and Islamic insurgents there, and the USIP is starting to examine nonmilitary options for Iran.
At home, it sponsors a national essay contest on peace and offers training manuals for diplomats and a guide for teachers on discussing terrorism.
What it doesn't do with public funds is criticize this or any other U.S. administration.
"Nothing would happen if we took sides, except we'd be out of business," Solomon said. "We offer a neutral platform where different sides come together."
USIP staffers like to say the idea for the institute dates to the country's founding. But it was really created 20 years ago by Congress, under bipartisan sponsorship, to support the development and use of knowledge to promote peace and curb violent international conflict.
It has been home to visiting scholars, journalists, ambassadors and senior figures from across the political landscape in the United States and abroad.
Solomon reports to a 12-member bipartisan board of directors, which is appointed by the White House and confirmed by the Senate.
One appointment caused considerable stir in 2003 when President Bush chose Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes for the USIP board. Pipes has long warned about Islamic extremism, but his writing is controversial.
He has said Muslim government employees in law enforcement, the military and the diplomatic corps "need to be watched for connections to terrorism." He also contends that "mosques require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches and temples."
The appointment was opposed by some Senate Democrats and Arab American groups, but after a lengthy political battle Pipes was approved.
There also are no Muslim Americans on the board, though the USIP's work is expanding rapidly into the Islamic world, with Iraq taking up a significant portion of resources.
There have been additional Iraq reports since the war began, and not all suggestions have been necessarily the right ones.
One section in the February 2003 report urged the U.S. military to carry out a policy of "de-Baathification," which meant firing every senior Iraqi government employee with membership in Hussein's party.
That is the direction the Bush administration took. Many U.S. and Iraqi officials acknowledge the move made postwar life far more difficult for Iraqis, since many senior officials running essential government services were no longer allowed to come to work.
But many of the institute's warnings remain a concern.
From the institute's pre-Iraq invasion report: "Ultimately, post-war chaos and long-term disorder in Iraq may prove more destructive to human life, regional stability, and national interest than any attempt to oust the Iraqi ruler."
