Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process whereby the parties to a dispute use a conciliator, who meets with the parties both separately and together in an attempt to resolve their differences. They do this by lowering tensions, improving communication, interpreting issues, encouraging parties to explore potential solvents and assisting parties in finding a mutually acceptable outcome.
A peace process is the set of sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict.
The University for Peace (UPEACE) is an international university and intergovernmental organization established as a treaty organisation by the United Nations General Assembly in 1980. The university offers postgraduate, doctoral, and executive programmes related to the study of peace and conflict, environment and development, and international law.
Walter Hubert Annenberg KSG was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. Annenberg owned and operated Triangle Publications, which included ownership of The Philadelphia Inquirer, TV Guide, the Daily Racing Form and Seventeen magazine. He was appointed by President Richard Nixon as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, where he served from 1969 to 1974.
Track II diplomacy or "backchannel diplomacy" is the practice of "non-governmental, informal and unofficial contacts and activities between private citizens or groups of individuals, sometimes called 'non-state actors'". It contrasts with track I diplomacy, which is official, governmental diplomacy that occurs inside official government channels. However, track two diplomacy is not a substitute replacement for track one diplomacy. Rather, it is there to assist official actors to manage and resolve conflicts by exploring possible solutions derived from the public view and without the requirements of formal negotiation or bargaining for advantage. In addition, the term track 1.5 diplomacy is used by some analysts to define a situation where official and non-official actors cooperate in conflict resolution.
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), otherwise known as the Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, works to prevent and resolve armed conflicts around the world through mediation and discreet diplomacy. A non-profit organisation based in Switzerland, HD was founded in 1999 on the principles of humanity, impartiality and independence. HD is supervised by an independent board, regularly reports to donors and undergoes financial audits every year.
Oxford Research Group (ORG) was a London-based charity and think tank in Cambridge Heath, working on peace, security and justice issues. Its research and dialogue activities were mainly focused on the Middle East, North and West Africa, as well as influencing UK and international security policy.
The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is a member-led network of civil society organisations (CSOs) active in the field of conflict prevention and peacebuilding across the world. The network is organised around 15 regional networks of local organisations, each region having its own priorities, character and agenda. Each region is represented in an International Steering Group, which determines joint global priorities and actions. GPPAC was initiated through extensive consultations in 2003-4, and officially launched as part of a global conference in 2005 at the UN headquarters in New York.
The Inter-Tajik Dialogue was an effort of Track II diplomacy which brought together factions of the Tajik Civil War. The Inter-Tajik Dialogue developed out of former diplomat Hal Saunders' work with the Dartmouth Conference Regional Conflicts Task Force (RCTF). In 1992 the RCTF decided to apply the process of Sustained Dialogue they had learned in the Dartmouth Conference to aid the former-Soviet republic through citizen dialogues.
The Dartmouth Conference is the longest continuous bilateral dialogue between American and Soviet representatives. The first Dartmouth Conference took place at Dartmouth College in 1961. Subsequent conferences were held through 1990. They were revived in 2014 and continue today. Task forces begun under the auspices of the main conference continued to work after the main conference stopped. The Regional Conflicts Task Force extended the sustained dialogue model, based on the Dartmouth experience, to conflicts in Tajikistan and Nagorno-Karabakh. Dartmouth inspired a number of other dialogues in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere, many of them under the auspices of the Sustained Dialogue Institute and the Kettering Foundation.
Harold Henry Saunders served as the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research between 1975 and 1978 and United States Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs between 1978 and 1981. Saunders was a key participant in the Camp David Accords, helped negotiate the Iran Hostage Crisis, and developed the sustained dialogue model for resolving conflicts Saunders later launched the Sustained Dialogue Institute, which uses the sustained dialogue model to address racial and other issues in the United States and abroad.
Karuna Center for Peacebuilding (KCP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Amherst, Massachusetts. The stated mission of KCP is to empower people divided by conflict to develop mutual understanding and to create sustainable peace. The organization was named for the Sanskrit word for compassion. The organization's efforts in facilitating "post-conflict reconciliation" have led to active programs in more than 30 countries. KCP has co-implemented programs with the United States Agency for International Development, United States Department of State, United States Institute of Peace, and Fund for Peace, among others.
The Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) is a research center located within the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. CGCS serves as a research hub for students and scholars worldwide studying comparative communication studies, media law, and media policy. The center also provides consulting and advisory assistance to academic centers, non-governmental organizations, regulators, lawyers, and governments throughout the world.
Concordis International is a non-profit organization that works alongside and in support of official peace processes. They exist to improve the potential for lasting peace. The organization has headquarters in London and country-offices in the Central African Republic and Nouakchott, Mauritania. Concordis' historical roots are in peace-building work by the Newick Park Initiative in South Africa (1986–1991) and in post-genocide Rwanda (1994–1997).
The Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group is a non-violent conflict resolution group established in 1992 in San Mateo, California. Its first meeting was held in a local neighborhood residence. As of September 2019, the group remained active and continued to meet monthly in members' homes. The one-to-one, face-to-face method of conflict resolution, modeled by this dialogue group, was increasingly looked to globally by educators, researchers, journalists, activists, trainers, and strategists including the U.S. Department of State, which distributes the dialogue group's instructive films in Africa.
Peace psychology is a subfield of psychology and peace research that deals with the psychological aspects of peace, conflict, violence, and war. Peace psychology can be characterized by four interconnected pillars: (1) research, (2) education, (3) practice, and (4) advocacy. The first pillar, research, is documented most extensively in this article.
Intergroup dialogue is a "face-to-face facilitated conversation between members of two or more social identity groups that strives to create new levels of understanding, relating, and action". This process promotes conversation around controversial issues, specifically, in order to generate new "collective visions" that uphold the dignity of all people. Intergroup dialogue is based in the philosophies of the democratic and popular education movements. It is commonly used on college campuses, but may assume different namesakes in other settings.
Maryam Faghihimani is an Iranian researcher and activist, living in Norway and is the founder and President of the Centre for Cultural Diplomacy & Development (CCDD). She believes economic cooperation is the best way to promote peace in the "seemingly insuperable" Arab-Israeli conflict. The daughter of Sayed Kamal Faghih Imani, a leading Iranian ayatollah who holds a strong anti-Israeli perspective, she has labored to promote understanding and acceptance between Muslims and Jews as well as building friendship dialogues between Iranians, Israelis and Arabs.
Randa Slim is a Lebanese-American foreign-policy professional specializing in Track II diplomacy.
The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) is a research institute on self-determination, self-governance, and diplomacy. LISD is affiliated with the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Founded in 2000 by the Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, the Institute aims to enhance global peace and stability through its projects, publications, and commentaries.
