There are no winners in War
Once upon a time a war was fought. There were no winners; everyone lost. The war evolved into a standstill, with armed forces facing off across some line of demarkation to make sure the uneasy cease-fire remains in place. With regard to creating peace, the issue was turned over to government diplomats to resolve. Government diplomats don’t necessarily have any motivation for creating peace. So 10, 50, 100, 1000 years later, armed forces still face off across the line.
There are many examples that are still present in our modern world. North Korea – South Korea. India – Pakistan. China – Taiwan. Russia – Ukraine. Israel – Palestine. And there are smaller examples too numerous to list.
The results of war, of course, are pretty much always the same: destroyed societies; destroyed governments; destroyed families; destroyed economies and infrastructures; destroyed resources needed for survival of the species.
Yet despite this, war is still considered to be honorable by many. I have no idea why.
The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD)
As one component of the more honorable effort to reduce and eliminate war, and to make up for the shortfalls of traditional diplomacy, organizations such as the [link url=”http://www.imtd.org/” title=”Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy”] (IMTD) exist. Chartered and lead by [link url=”http://www.imtd.org/about/staff/84-about/140-ambassador-john-w-mcdonald” title=”retired US Ambassador John McDonald”], the IMTD seeks to create alternate pathways to conflict resolution, peace-making, and peace-building.
Their accomplishments are [link url=”http://www.imtd.org/about/achievements” title=”many and profound”]. They’ve worked with Kashmir, Bosnia, Ethiopia, and many more. See the list for a more complete list of achievements. That the institute has served to prevent war is beyond question.
They accomplish these awesome achievements through interaction and enabling discussions among ordinary people at the citizen level. Many within our own country are really frustrated with the ability of our government to accomplish important work, and we have an enormous respect for the power of the individual, so for individuals to facilitate democracy only makes sense. And it works well, and has been working well for many years.
Emergency & Disaster Management (EDM)
The link between IMTD and EDM at the international level is pretty intuitive. Every war avoided is a success story with respect to all of the tragedies caused by war that were discussed earlier. But that’s not the only utility of the concept of multi-track diplomacy.
What if:
- You could improve race relations within your community through communication between ordinary citizens?
- You could improve outreach and service provision to communities of non-English speakers using ordinary bi-lingual citizens?
- You could improve mitigation and preparation through community outreach programs run by non-governmental service organizations?
You’re probably doing some of this already, which means that some of the principles and concepts employed by IMTD are already working for you.
But could you do more? These examples are by no means complete. What could you add? Are there examples where you’ve asked your governing body for assistance or funding that you’re not going to get, and where the utilization of your community members could accomplish it instead? Think about it.
When I was pursuing my PhD, I interned at the IMTD. It was a great experience, which is why I remain committed to their methods and work, and why I don’t hesitate to talk them up every chance I get.
Check them out. They’d appreciate your support, and you might just learn some really valuable things that improve your service.
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