Maureen Berman and Joseph Johnson (Editors) Unofficial Diplomats (New York: Columbia University Press, 1977, 268 pp)
Track Two Diplomacy are informal discussions among non-officials -scholars, senior journalists, former government officials - to see what issues might be usefully discussed in more official settings. Track Two discussions perform a socialization role. They permit a keener appreciation of each other's perspections,a possible leading to a shared understanding of difficult issues.
However, there are times when tensions are so strong that Track Two discussions are not possible. This may be the case in the current situation among Israelis and Palestinians. At such times, outside organizations may be able to play a positive role.
Maureen Berman and Joseph Johnson have brought together a series of essays by persons involved in such conflict-reducing efforts on the part of non-governmental organizations: The Quakers, the World Council of Churches, the Carnegie Endowment, the International Committee of the Red Cross as well as some programs sponsored by academic and research institutions such as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and university centers at Harvard, Yale and Columbia.
While there are more recent books on such efforts such as Oliver Richmond and Henry Carley (Eds) Subcontracting Peace. The Challenges of NGO Peacebuilding (Hampshire, U.K. Ashgate Publishing, 2005, 267pp.) I think that Unofficial Diplomats covers the subject in depth and can be of real help.
As with most efforts, a first step is to see who else is working on the issue, both academic specialists and international organizations such as the United Nations. It is important to be in as close contact as possible with U.N. officials, especially those open to cooperation with NGOs. This was the case for Sergio Viera de Mello, for a short time in 2002-2003 U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. He was on leave of absence from the post of High Commissioner to become in 2003 head of the U.N. mission in Iraq. On 19 August 2003, the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad was attacked by a truck-bomb and de Mello was killed. During his time as High Commissioner in Geneva, I had the opportunity as an NGO representative to speak with him several times on the role that NGOs could play both in U.N. meetings and in the field. From his experience in the armed conflicts in former Yugoslavia and East Timor, he was very open to working with NGOs both national NGOs in countries in conflict but also with outside NGOs. He was convinced that peacebuilding requires a variety of skills and an awareness of the complexity of issues.
There is also a need to be able to reach national decision makers especially as regards new issues and longer-term questions. Organizations such as the Friends Committee on National Legislation have a good idea as to who in the U.S. Congress but also in the Executive are working on a political problem or geographic area. Thus, there is a need to move quickly when facing pressing issues or rapidly changing environments.
The times cry out for strong cooperative action. Unofficial Diplomats gives useful background based on previous experiences - a necessary guide for moving ahead.
René Wadlow , Association of World Citizens
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