Essay
Published on Beyond Intractability (http://www.beyondintractability.org)
Home > Track II (Citizen) Diplomacy
Track II (Citizen) Diplomacy
Track II or citizen diplomacy are peacebuilding efforts undertaken by unofficial (usually non-govermental) people who try to build cross-group understanding and even develop ideas for conflict resolution that have not been broaded in official channels.
Track II (Citizen) Diplomacy
By
Diana Chigas
August 2003 | |
Who are Track Two Intermediaries and Diplomats?The term "intermediary" refers to people who become involved "in the middle" of a conflict. They are not disputants, but rather people who try to work with the disputants to resolve the conflict or transform it to make it less destructive. Sometimes these intermediaries are official or "formal" intermediaries: professional mediators, arbitrators, judges, or other official actors. But often they are informal, or unofficial people who work outside official negotiation, mediation, or "Track I" processes. Unofficial third-party intervention means different things to different people. At the interpersonal level, it refers to any informal mediation process...a friend intervening between a fighting couple; a co-worker trying to help two employees solve a dispute. Anyone who tries to help disputants work out their differences, but does so as a friend or unofficial third party is an "informal intermediary."At the inter-group or international level, the term encompasses a number of different terms: "track two diplomacy," citizen diplomacy, "multi-track diplomacy," supplemental diplomacy, pre-negotiation, consultation, interactive conflict resolution, back-channel diplomacy, facilitated joint brainstorming, coexistence work. While differing in emphasis, agenda, and theoretical approach, these initiatives share many common goals. They attempt to provide an environment that is low-key, non-judgmental, non-coercive, and safe, and to create a process in which
Home > Track II (Citizen) Diplomacy
Track II (Citizen) Diplomacy
Track II or citizen diplomacy are peacebuilding efforts undertaken by unofficial (usually non-govermental) people who try to build cross-group understanding and even develop ideas for conflict resolution that have not been broaded in official channels.
Track II (Citizen) Diplomacy
By
Diana Chigas
August 2003 | |
Who are Track Two Intermediaries and Diplomats?The term "intermediary" refers to people who become involved "in the middle" of a conflict. They are not disputants, but rather people who try to work with the disputants to resolve the conflict or transform it to make it less destructive. Sometimes these intermediaries are official or "formal" intermediaries: professional mediators, arbitrators, judges, or other official actors. But often they are informal, or unofficial people who work outside official negotiation, mediation, or "Track I" processes. Unofficial third-party intervention means different things to different people. At the interpersonal level, it refers to any informal mediation process...a friend intervening between a fighting couple; a co-worker trying to help two employees solve a dispute. Anyone who tries to help disputants work out their differences, but does so as a friend or unofficial third party is an "informal intermediary."At the inter-group or international level, the term encompasses a number of different terms: "track two diplomacy," citizen diplomacy, "multi-track diplomacy," supplemental diplomacy, pre-negotiation, consultation, interactive conflict resolution, back-channel diplomacy, facilitated joint brainstorming, coexistence work. While differing in emphasis, agenda, and theoretical approach, these initiatives share many common goals. They attempt to provide an environment that is low-key, non-judgmental, non-coercive, and safe, and to create a process in which