Multi-track diplomacy is a term that originated in the 1980s, and refers to bringing in sectors of society that are not officially government representatives to cultivate relationships in conflicting countries.
Originally, this was called track two diplomacy because these unofficial, non-government representatives were typically conflict resolution professionals who would go into a country to reduce conflict.
These professionals are not sanctioned by the state or by the government, so they are non-state actors who are going in to cultivate relationships in order to build and promote peace.
Track one would be formal diplomacy, which is conducted by state actors, or the formal representatives of nations and countries who facilitate diplomacy.
Peace treaties, trade agreements, or any type of official agreement (such as something our Secretary of State would do here in the United States) is considered formal diplomacy.
Over time, track two diplomacy became known as multi-track diplomacy because those involved recognized that additional tracks needed to be included.
Multi-track diplomacy and track two diplomacy are really the same thing, just different terms for involving all sectors of society in peacebuilding.
Although formal diplomacy allows for official action, such as signing a peace treaty or making a trade agreement, there are some issues that a formal agreement alone can’t solve. If there’s a long-standing conflict between two countries in which animosity and negative attitudes between the parties run very deep, a formal agreement won’t change these perceptions.
People's perceptions and attitudes change over time, and they change by cultivating relationships with people from the conflicting party.
The idea behind multi-track diplomacy is to involve all sectors of society in the resolution process.
EXAMPLE
Business is one of these sectors. When business people from one country conduct business in a country with whom their nation is in conflict, these people have the opportunity to help to cultivate positive relationships.IN CONTEXT
One contemporary example of a nonprofit effort born out of multi-track diplomacy is an Israel-based program called The Land Twice Promised that has brought Israeli and Palestinian youth together in dialogue. This program has so far been very successful. Again, the goal of multi-track diplomacy is to cultivate relationships between countries that are in conflict.
Another outcome of this kind of diplomacy might be something like a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the most well-known of which was established in South Africa after the end of apartheid. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission involved bringing together Black and white South Africans to tell their stories of apartheid. After this, there was a period of healing through reparations.
Sometimes in countries that do this kind of peace-building and healing through storytelling after a war, there will be reparations in the form of payments made to a segment of the population that has experienced discrimination.
There may also be memorials that are set up so that the country won't forget what happened. These are all ways to bridge the gap between people that have been in conflict, to learn what happened, to remember what happened, and to make restitution. Bringing people together to talk about these issues will do a lot to promote and build positive relationships, and thus prevent this kind of conflict from happening again in the future.
Source: Adapted from Sophia tutorial by Marlene Johnson.
