by Peter Jones (Author)
Track Two diplomacy consists of informal dialogues among actors such as academics, religious leaders, retired senior officials, and NGO officials that can bring new ideas and new relationships to the official process of diplomacy.
Sadly, those involved in official diplomacy often have little understanding of and appreciation for the complex and nuanced role that Track Two can play, or for its limitations. And many Track Two practitioners are often unaware of the realities and pressures of the policy and diplomatic worlds, and not particularly adept at framing their efforts to make them accessible to hard-pressed officials. At the same time, those interested in the academic study of Track Two sometimes fail to understand the realities faced by either set of practitioners.
A need therefore exists for a work to bridge the divides between these constituencies and between the different types of Track Two practice—and this book crosses disciplines and traditions in order to do just that. It explores the various dimensions and guises of Track Two, the theory and practice of how they work, and how both practitioners and academics could more profitably assess Track Two. Overall, it provides a comprehensive picture of the range of activities pursued under this title, to provoke new thinking about how these activities relate to each other, to official diplomacy, and to academe.
【摘自“MBA 智库百科”】
二轨外交是非官方或半官方人士(包括学者、退休官员、公共人物和社会积极分子等)参与外交对话,目的在于寻找冲突解决和信任创建的机会。在二轨外交中,智库开始接受外交使命,参与官方外交对话,或者得到官方授意以公开的、非官方论坛的形式探索实现外交目的的途径。按照参与程度不同还有二轨外交和1.5轨外交的差异。比如被称为东亚二轨领头羊的东亚思想库网络、“9.11”后亚太地区新出现的英国国际战略研究所(IISS)发起、在新加坡ZF支持下举办的香格里拉对话会中的智库参与等,都是二轨外交或1.5轨外交的典型案例。