Step 5 - Encourage Track-II Dialogue

Step 5
Encourage Track-II Dialogue

There is a growing consensus among both official and unofficial actors that no single actor or activity is sufficient to build sustainable peace in situations of complex conflict, and that the achievement of that goal requires both top-down and bottom-up approaches. Track-II, or unofficial, diplomacy conducted among grassroots and midlevel opinion leaders can be a valuable adjunct to the formal peace negotiations. Track-II efforts can help the local community engage in the kinds of tasks and make the necessary psychological changes required to generate and sustain support for a peace process. They also can generate ideas and issues that should be included in the negotiation process.

Track-II efforts can also play a constructive role even before a conflict becomes ripe for Track-I efforts; for instance, Track-II practitioners can float low-profile, low-risk "trial balloons" to gauge support for possible subsequent Track-I mediation efforts.

In Tajikistan, the unofficial Inter-Tajik Dialogue met for thirteen months prior to the commencement of official negotiations in 1994, during which time it helped set the agenda for official talks and demonstrated that progress could be made at the official level. Once official negotiations began, those involved in the unofficial dialogue focused on building support for the official process and strategizing about how to promote national reconciliation.

Track-II participants need to understand at all times that they are an adjunct to the Track-I process and cannot replace that process. Moreover, efforts must be made to coordinate Track-II efforts, not just with Track-I endeavors, but with each other, to enhance synergies and avoid confusion and congestion.

Identify and Coordinate with Track-II Efforts

Ascertain Status and Potential of Track-II Efforts

The Track-I mediator should ascertain the existence and status of ongoing Track-II efforts and decide if and how to communicate, coordinate, or even work with those endeavors. Some Track-II activities may complicate or undercut the work of the official mediator, and the mediator should seek to minimize their disruptive potential, but others may help the mediator and should be encouraged and supported. The mediator will probably be most concerned about any disruptive effects of Track-II efforts once the Track-I negotiations are under way, but the mediator should be attentive to both the negative and the positive potential of Track-II endeavors throughout the entire mediation process.

Focus on Track-II Activities That Build Parties' Capacity and Foster Wider Support for the Process

The Track-II activities most relevant to a Track-I mediator are those that either build the parties' capacity to participate effectively and to reach a settlement or build support for the peace process in the wider community. To be most effective, capacity building for the parties should be coordinated with the Track-I process to target specific needs identified by the official mediator, such as negotiation skills, coalition building, or platform development. Track-II processes aimed at building wider support for the process should engage members of elite subgroups with ties to official negotiators, as well as leaders who represent significant sections of the public, especially those sections not directly involved in the Track-I process.

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Identifing and Coordinating with Track-II Efforts

Promote Cooperation between Tracks

Share Information and Clarify Roles

Ideally, coordination between the two tracks will occur both during the mediation process and toward its end, when Track-I mediators may need to hand off some of the responsibilities for implementation to Track-II actors. Whenever possible, Track-I mediators should meet with the major Track-II groups to share information and analysis (to the extent possible, given confidentiality restrictions) and use this information as a basis for agreeing on explicit Track-I and Track-II roles for facilitating the peace process. At a minimum, mediators should work to develop shared visions of mutually reinforcing activities that can guide each group's involvement.

In the long term, enhanced coordination and cooperation depend upon regular communication between Track-I and Track-II professionals. One mechanism to promote a close relationship is to convene regular forums for practitioners working in specific conflict areas.

Such forums have been established in the cases of the Georgian-Abkahz conflict and the effort to reconstruct Afghanistan.

A decentralized planning model, in which people meet frequently to share the latest news, analyze and strategize together, and, where appropriate, take joint action, is very effective. Field-based representatives of Track-I and Track-II organizations may coordinate more efficiently than their geographically scattered organizational leaderships.

Reward Track-II Efforts That Further the Track-I Process

Although a Track-I mediator cannot regulate all the relevant Track-II activities, he or she can exercise some control over the access that those activities have to the Track-I process, rewarding those efforts that have the potential to support it. Such support could range from occasional briefings to keep Track-II actors informed of progress to active collaboration on aspects of the mediation.

Track-I interveners in the Moldovan-Transdniestrian conflict discussed broad plans with the Track-II Moldovan Initiative Committee on Management, leading to a study visit to Northern Ireland for the parties and the Track-I mediators.

Maintain the Independence of Track-II Initiatives

Cooperation must not go so far as to blur the distinction between the two tracks, however. Track-II organizations need to maintain their separation and distance from Track-I; after all, one of the big advantages of Track-II is that, because it is seen as more independent, it can do things that Track-I cannot.

Feature Box 5-1: Examples of Track-II Support for Track-I

Facilitation of Unofficial Negotiations
Facilitate unofficial meetings with either Track-I or Track-II leaders to explore options or to float trial balloons or model peace plans for an official process.

Capacity Building for Negotiating Parties
Provide training in negotiating and conflict resolution skills, and in platform/alliance development.

Interactive Problem Solving
Conduct workshops before or in parallel with Track-I mediation to investigate underlying interests and to develop mutual understanding.

Logistical Support for Track-I
Provide Track-I efforts with technical expertise, additional staff, and logistical, administrative, or infrastructure support.

Negotiation and Mediation of Subsidiary and Local Issues
Facilitate resolution of lower-level disputes within the context of the wider Track-I process.

Early Warning
Provide independent insights into the nature of the conflict and identify emerging problems and opportunities.

Capacity Building for Civil Society and the Wider Population
Improve the ability of citizens to participate effectively in the peace process by fostering understanding of the peace process; initiate programs in support of the institution and state-building necessary for sustainable peace.

Reconciliation and Relationship Building
Facilitate dialogues with civil society to build relationships that foster intercommunal trust and communication and support long-term peace.

Transitional Steps
Undertake programs to assist with disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of combatants; participate in transitional justice efforts.

Implementation Support
Mobilize and educate the population to monitor and participate in the peace process, including security support such as neighborhood watch or disarmament programs.