Military

DATE=October 15, 2002

TYPE=Dateline

NUMBER=7-36815

TITLE=Integrating Track 1 and 2 Diplomacy

BYLINE=Judith Latham

TELEPHONE=202-619-3464

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Neal Lavon

CONTENT=9:29 v/o; 11:27 m/o

DISK: DATELINE THEME [PLAYED IN STUDIO, FADED UNDER DATELINE HOST VOICE OR PROGRAMMING MATERIAL]

HOST: The Department of State recently hosted a forum [9/23/02] on integrating "Track One," or what we know as traditional diplomacy between state officials, with "Track Two," or unofficial diplomacy among members of non-governmental organizations, experts, and academics. Delegates and practitioners shared their experiences of how the two methods complement each other and how they can impact on national diplomatic objectives and prevent conflict. With this Dateline report, here's Judith Latham.

JL: The Secretary of State brought together leaders in the academic, diplomatic, and security communities to examine developments in the theory and practice of what is known as conflict resolution.

The Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Marc Grossman, a career diplomat for 26 years, says non-governmental organizations, or N-G-Os, can play a critical role in Track Two diplomacy, and they represent an important aspect in overall U-S foreign policy.

TAPE: CUT #1: GROSSMAN [FM LATHAM] 0:23

"I'd say that one of the biggest changes in the time I have been in the Foreign Service is the work we now do with N-G-Os, and our work together in foreign policy. I believe that the entire foreign affairs apparatus of this government is in many ways engaged every day in conflict resolution, conflict prevention, and very importantly post-conflict reconstruction."

JL: The Deputy Director of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff is Ambassador Donald Steinberg. He says there is "broad and growing recognition" that conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction form what he calls the "bedrock of diplomacy and American national security interests" around the world. He believes this work is too important to leave to governments alone.

TAPE: CUT #2: STEINBERG [FM LATHAM] 0:12

"Looking back over the last decade, I constantly hear people say, 'If we had only paid more attention to Rwanda or Somalia or Haiti or the former Yugoslavia, we could have avoided so much suffering.'"

JL: Ambassador Steinberg says experts who have studied scores of cases of conflict in recent decades have identified some important factors in predicting which countries are most vulnerable.

TAPE: CUT #3: STEINBERG [FM LATHAM] 0:36

"First, there is the degree of political participation, responsive governance, and the rule of law. Societies must have safety valves to permit the peaceful redress of grievances. Second, the condition of the educational system is vital. Investment in schools, and in particular girls' education, is the most important factor in improving health, agriculture, and other socioeconomic standards and in avoiding conflict. Next is religious and ethnic homogeneity or at least the extent to which differences are tolerated and even celebrated."

JL: Another critical predictor of a country's vulnerability to conflict, Ambassador Grossman explains, is its location.

TAPE: CUT #4: STEINBERG [FM LATHAM] 0:10

"The role of neighbors in either mediating or fueling disputes is fundamental. Finally, has there been upheaval during the last 15 years?"

JL: Official government and non-governmental organizations are increasingly working together in situations where these factors have been identified. The 27 members of ACRON [AK-kron, or the Applied Conflict Resolution Organizations Network] offered case studies of such collaboration at the recent State Department forum. Robert Ricigliono [ree-chil-ee-OWN-oh], director of the Peace Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin, says that Track One and Track Two diplomacy are "natural allies" pursuing common goals, but in different ways.

TAPE: CUT #5: RICIGLIONO [FM LATHAM] 0:14

"The term 'Track Two' is not foreign to the State Department. In fact, it was two State Department officers who wrote an article on foreign policy in 1982 in which they coined the term 'Track Two.' And we are lucky to have Joe Montville as an ACRON member."

JL: Twenty years ago, Mr. Montville defined "Track Two Diplomacy" as "the informal, unofficial interaction between members of adversary groups or nations," according to Robert Ricigliono. For example, Mr. Ricigliono says, his N-G-O at the University of Wisconsin has programs that work with people at the national political level, in the academic, business and religious communities, as well as at the grassroots level.

TAPE:CUT #6: RICIGLIONO [FM LATHAM] 0:26

(OPT) "It is critical to interweave those levels because no process of reconciliation and reconstruction can be effective without that interweaving. We interface with State at the policy level, at the country level, and in the field. (END OPT) In the Democratic Republic of Congo, we were asked by one of the belligerent parties to help facilitate an informal dialogue between the three belligerent parties. At times, we were the only channel that was talking directly to all three parties. In my 14 years of doing this, it was the best relationship between Track One and Track Two that I have ever experienced. We expanded the options for intervention because we could do things at the Track Two level, the unofficial level, that were either difficult or were impossible for Track One."

JL: Another example of a program that works at a grassroots level was one conducted in Burundi and Rwanda by the Conflict Management Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Michael Hagar is director of the Conflict Management Group.

TAPE:CUT #7: HAGAR [FM LATHAM] 0:39

(OPT) "It's a project that has evolved into a proven vehicle for empowering 'marginalized' youth and women in Rwanda and is a project we expect to replicate nationwide through the Ministry of Youth and Sports. (END OPT) I should say the training is an adapted version of the Harvard negotiation course that we ordinarily deliver to more sophisticated audiences around the world. Nevertheless, the project has shown that the local population, even at the most 'marginalized' level, can learn and use new concepts. A brief word on the role of the U-S government in all of this. Recognizing the security importance of rebuilding peace in post-genocide Central Africa, the embassies of Burundi and Rwanda were helpful in bringing conflict resolution skills training to the attention of local officials."

JL: Paula Gutlove, director of a non-governmental organization called the Institute for Resource and Security Studies, has worked extensively in the areas of dialogue facilitation and training in the Balkans.

TAPE: CUT #8: GUTLOVE [FM LATHAM] 1:09

"Stability and social integration in the Balkans are critical for U-S national interests because they lay the groundwork for the development of a healthy civil society and a sustainable democracy in the region. It has been our experience that working in the health care sector can provide significant opportunities for integrated action. And so in 1996, we developed a project called the Health Bridges for Peace Project. And we developed a training program featuring psychological and social assistance to populations that had been traumatized by the war.

In 1997 in a small town called Gracanica [GRAH-chah-NEET-sah] in Bosnia, we initiated a trauma-recovery social-reconstruction project. It's an area where the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat Federation sit side by side. We started with a training program for 15 local health providers physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and teachers. After the training we helped the community set up space for support groups for mothers of war-injured children, for bereaved parents, for teenagers. In time the community gathering evolved into a local organization, called OSMIA, which means smile in Bosnian."

JL: Ms. Gutlove says the number of people involved in these social reconstruction projects grew from 15 to 800 in just two years.

TAPE: CUT #9: GUTLOVE [FM LATHAM] 0:45

"We received support for these programs from the U-S Institute of Peace, from UNHCR, and from foundations in Europe and the United States. In June 1999, after the war in Kosovo, we brought 80 health care professionals from all parts of the former Yugoslavia to Gracanica so they could see first hand what could be done.

From 1999 to 2002 the number of volunteers engaged in our programs in the network increased from 800 to 8,000. We're working in schools, in clinics, with the police, with media, in the Bosnian Federation, in the Serb Republic, in Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, and Slovenia. Our work has come to the attention of the U-S embassies in Slovenia and Bosnia, and they have provided some financial support."

JL: Ambassador Donald Steinberg says Track Two practitioners sometimes actively seek assistance from those in the diplomatic community.

TAPE: CUT #10: STEINBERG [FM LATHAM] 0:29

"In Angola, as ambassador, I often saw situations where a particular group wanted the U-S flag around it to provide a degree of protection and support and a sense of official imprimateur. And there are other cases where groups wanted to be as far from the U-S government as they possibly could. I remember in 1994, when we were faced with the trauma of Rwanda, immediately we turned to Burundi and said, 'We cannot afford another crisis like this.'"

JL: Diplomats who are employing Track Two diplomacy are beginning to generate public awareness of their work. One of the three people receiving an award at the Secretary's Open Forum was Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates. She was cited for her "bold and effective integration of Track One and Track Two approaches to conflict resolution in Burundi from 1999 to 2002."

TAPE: CUT #12: YATES [FM LATHAM] 0:37

"Being a Track One practitioner, what I didn't realize when I got there was that the best work in conflict resolution and prevention was already going on with many of the N-G-Os in country. What I realized was that with Track One I could be effective both with our V-I-P visitors, the Assistant Secretary, and the Senate staffers who would come to town to let them see what was really happening at the grassroots level. And I felt very proud that I could just be the connector between the two levels."

JL: The integration of Track One and Track Two approaches to diplomacy is now a recognized feature of U-S policy in some of the most troubled areas of the world.* It has enjoyed particular success in central and southern Africa, the former Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Northern Ireland, and Romania.

TAPE: CUT #1: MUSIC AGNUS DEI FROM MOZART'S CORONATION MASS. [Sneak at * in preceding graph and bring up in full after sign-off.

JL: For Dateline, I'm Judith Latham.