Private Individuals 199election to the parliament. She made triumphant trips to Eu rope and the United
States, yet the extent of her influence on top decision makers was unclear. In 2015, her
po liti cal party won in a landslide election. Although constitutionally barred from the
presidency, she intends to use her prestige and power gained from years of private
re sis tance to govern as a public official.
Track- Two Diplomacy Use of Individuals
Private individuals increasingly play a role in so- called track- two diplomacy, particu-
larly in the area of conflict resolution. Track- two diplomacy uses individuals outside
of governments to carry out negotiations, resulting in success in some cases. In the
spring of 1992, for example, Eritrea signed a declaration of in de pen dence, seceding
from Ethiopia after years of both low- and high- intensity conflict. The foundation for
the agreement was negotiated in numerous informal meetings in Atlanta, Georgia, and
elsewhere, between the affected parties and former president Jimmy Car ter, acting
through the Car ter Center’s International Negotiation Network at Emory University.
In the fall of 1993, the unexpected framework for reconciliation between Israel and
the Palestine Liberation Or ga ni za tion was negotiated through track- two informal and
formal pro cesses initiated by Terje Larsen, a Norwegian sociologist, and Yossi Beilin
of the opposition Labor Party in Israel. A series of preparatory negotiations was con-
ducted over a five- month period in total secrecy. Beginning unofficially, the talks grad-
ually evolved into official negotiations, building up trust in an informal atmosphere
and setting the stage for an eventual agreement.^18
Such high- level, track- two diplomatic efforts are not always well received. For
example, Jimmy Car ter’s eleventh- hour dash in 1994 to meet with North Korea’s Kim
Il- Sung to discuss the latter’s nuclear buildup was met by a barrage of probing ques-
tions. Was the U.S. government being preempted? For whom did Car ter speak? Could
the understandings become the basis of a formal intergovernmental agreement?
Despite the misgivings and the eventual unraveling of North Korea’s promises, Car ter
received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for this and other efforts to promote peace
around the world. Was this private citizen actually speaking on behalf of the U.S.
administration?
Other types of track- two diplomacy involve the lengthier pro cess of sustained dia-
logue. In some cases, unofficial individuals from diff er ent international groups are brought
together in small prob lem- solving workshops so they can develop personal relationships
and understanding of the prob lems from the perspective of others. It is hoped that these
individuals will then seek to influence public opinion in their respective states, trying to
reshape, and often rehumanize, the image of the opponent. This approach has been used
to address the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland and the
Arab- Israeli dispute. Prob lem- solving workshops have been conducted over de cades and