The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy
Peacebuilding through Collaboration
The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1992 by Ambassador John W. McDonald and Dr. Louise Diamond. The mission of IMTD is to promote a systems-based approach to peacebuilding and to facilitate the transformation of deep-rooted social conflict through education, conflict resolution training and communication. Read more…
IMTD NEWS
S-CAR Reception on April 17
On April 17, 2013 at the reception hosted by Dean Bartolli at S-CAR, Ambassador McDonald (Ret.) discussed with Senator George Mitchel, the April 1998 Northern Ireland Peace Accord. After the recpetion the Senator gave a brilliant speech at GMU Arlington campus.
Dr. Brian Polkinghorn, President of IMTD was also at the reception and asked the Senator to sign a copy of his book on the Northern Ireland Peace Accords.
Nepal Fundraising Dinner
On April 18, 2013 the IMTD held a fundraiser in Silver Spring, MD to help finance several of its small projects in Nepal. The dinner was held in a Nepalese restaurant and was a great success.
IMTD’s Program Manager for Nepal organized the event and introduced the two speakers, Ambassador John W McDonald Chairman and CEO of IMTD, and U.S. Ambassador to Nepal, Sharma. The evening was memorable. Please see the attached video.
Thanks to Mr. Loknath Tiwari and Ghar-E-Kebab in Silver Spring, Maryland.
IMTD East
Dr. Avi Moses-Carmel, an Israeli and US citizen, has agreed to be Chairman and CEO of a new Israeli NGO to be located in Tel Aviv, Israel. He has a law degree and a PhD in Conflict Resolution, and is very dedicated to building a more peaceful Israel and a more peaceful region.
The Israeli government will not allow new International NGOs to be launched, so this will be an entirely Israeli enterprise. However, IMTD-East will be following IMTD principles and IMTD staff will be available to provide advice and assistance as required.
Late November 2012, the Ministry of Justice approved the creation of IMTD-East. In early February, Dr. Brian Polkinghorn, President of IMTD, Skyped with Dr. Avi and a dozen of his friends and associates for their first discussion of how to establish IMTD-East.
In mid-February 2013, IMTD-East held its first workshop to discuss IMTD principles. A few days later it held its first workshop for 30 participants. Susan Maishlish has just been appointed Managing Director. She has had a very distinguished career in conflict resolution and will be in charge when Dr. Avi is not in town.
A Board is being created and will eventually consist of Israeli Jews, Muslims, and Christians. They are actively seeking office space and funding, but are now officially launched in Tel Aviv.
Our congratulations to Dr. Carmel for his great efforts in making this possible. Let us wish him good fortune!
Balkan Peace Institute (BPI)
On December 3, 2012, IMTD officially launched the Balkan Peace Institute (BPI), It will be located on the Skopje campus of the State University of Tetova in the Republic of Macedonia. The December 3 event came together with the President and the Vice President of the State University of Tetova, who flew to Washington, D.C. and joined IMTD at a luncheon at the Cosmos Club at their own expense. Also in attendance was Dean Bartolli, the head of George Mason University’s School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR); the Counselor for the Macedonia Embassy in Washington, DC; Professor Dr. David Alpher, Adjunct Professor at S-CAR and future Chief of Training at the Balkan Peace Institute; Pajtim Saiti, Fellow from Macedonia at America Speaks and new Chairman and CEO of BPI; Daniel Serwer, Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Engy Said, Program Manager for BPI, and Ambassador and Christel McDonald.
We had a great lunch and discussed the future plans for the new institute. We then went to Dean Bartoli’s office at S-CAR. The President of the State University of Tetova signed a letter of intent with Dean Bartoli, committing to working together on issues of conflict analysis and resolution in the Balkan area. Dean Bartolli and Ambassador McDonald have agreed to serve on the Board of the BPI.
The State University has provided free furnished office space, computers, chairs and tables, and telephones, as well as, office supplies to the new center. We currently expect BPI to be officially launched on April 7, 2013.
We wish to congratulate Pajtim for his great work in launching this new idea.
IMTD South Caucuses (Georgia)
On October 1, 2012 there was a free non-violent election in Georgia’s Parliament, and the opposition parties unexpectedly won the election by 55%-40%. IMTD has been working in Georgia off and on since 2001. In 2003, we proposed a peace zone for the entire breakaway province of Abkhazia. The Peace Zone idea was formally approved by the former President of Georgia. In September 2013, he sent his number two member of Parliament, to Washington, D.C. for a week to explore the idea. We met with NGOs, the National Security Council, and the Department of State. Everyone was supportive of the initiative.
Georgia’s revolution took place in November 2003, and the President was ousted. A new democratic government took over early in 2004. They were not interested in a peace zone for Abkahzia. Shortly after the October 2012 victory, a friend of ours, the former Georgian Ambassador to the UN, (who resigned and returned to Georgia to join the government opposition), went on television in Tiblisi. He said he favored a peace zone for Abkhazia. The Ambassador soon became Minister of Defense in the new government.
We currently know four members of the Prime Minister’s cabinet who want us to return to Georgia and establish IMTD-South Caucuses. Our goal would be, over time, to bring together representatives from Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia as well as to establish a peace zone in Abkahzia.
Irakli Kakabadze, received his Masters in Conflict Resolution in 1996, from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (now S-CAR), has agreed to move from Canada back to Tbilisi, to head up IMTD- South Caucuses.
Irakli recently met with the new Prime Minister, who asked IMTD to come up with some large-scale projects for his consideration. We have done so and the PM is now considering them.
The PM recently met with the President of Armenia and Azerbaijan (a first-ever visit by a Georgian PM). They discussed the IMTD idea to create an economic free-zone based on the European model. He has also just visited the PM of Turkey. We have suggested he now visit Washington, DC to meet with the New Secretary of State and President Obama.
We hope to launch this new program in the spring of 2013. Many thanks to Mr. Kakabadze for his leadership in this endeavor.
Dinner with Louise Diamond: Cancer and Tikun Olam, the Healing and Repair of the World
Join Louise Diamond for an intimate dinner and talk entitled Cancer and Tikun Olam, the Healing and Repair of the World followed by a discussion with the audience.*This event has already passed.
Cancer and Tikun Olam, the Healing and Repair of the World
Cancer is a disease that consumes the vitality of the human body by replicating itself to the point of death. Tikun Olam in Judaism is our responsibility to heal our broken world.
Drawing on her personal experience with five rounds of cancer, and on her professional life as a systems thinker and international peacebuilder, Louise will reflect on the correspondence between cancer at the individual and global levels, focusing on our economic, political, religious, security, and environmental systems.
She’ll discuss analogies of symptoms and causes, diagnosis and treatment, threat and blessing, curing and healing – in physical and spiritual dimensions – to suggest how we can each contribute to the repair and transformation of our damaged world.
About Louise Diamond
Louise Diamond, PhD is the founder and director of Global Systems Initiatives. A systems thinker for 35 years, Louise has brought this approach to the international conflict resolution community through the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, which she co-founded with Ambassador John McDonald in 1992. A global peacebuilder, author, consultant, and trainer, Louise has collaborated with and inspired official and grass-roots leaders around the world to make a difference in their communities. She is known for her creative vision and her transformative action to create positive systems change.
Forgiveness Expert Rouses UN General Assembly: Dr. Eileen Borris Speaks to United Nations on Conflict Resolution and the Healing of Nations
New York, NY: (Oct 15, 2012) – Dr. Eileen Borris, political psychologist and international expert on conflict resolution, spoke to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, September 13. Offering a message focused on the reconciliation of national conflict and finding ways to forgive, her speech served as the preamble to a floor vote on the resolution, “Strengthening the role of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes, conflict prevention, and resolution.” Her rousing presentation received flattering reviews from audience members and was praised as “powerful and very moving” and a speech “worthy of the podium.”
Dr. Borris, a political psychologist residing in the Phoenix area, was invited by the president of the General Assembly to offer her insights on the issues inherent in the resolution because of her experience helping to rebuild war-torn countries, such as Liberia, Nigeria, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Israel and the Occupied Territories. She has worked in Indonesia for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), developing conflict resolution and reconciliation programs, and in Liberia, working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to develop trauma healing programs.
“Without intervention these cycles of conflict will continue. The quality of life for the effective nations will disintegrate into inevitable self-destruction,” stated Dr. Borris during her address. “The time has passed when leaders of nations can consciously choose to destroy other nations of people based on status, class, ethnic identity, or religious practice.”
Later, she provoked the audience saying, “What if you led the world in which you were able to end misery and human tragedy, because our hearts were filled with forgiveness, and we could give respect and dignity to all nations and honor the fundamental rights of everyone”…“We are the beginning, the first step required, to make manifest a nation of people who become spiritually whole. Right now, we have the ability to move the world closer to this vision based in spiritual wisdom, because each of us carries within our hearts the power to forgive.”
Following a presentation of the documentary film “Beyond Right and Wrong,” Dr. Borris offered her remarks along with two other speakers: Lord Alderdice, a member of the British Parliament, and Marina Cantacuzino. At the conclusion of the speakers’ comments, a formal session of the UN General Assembly was convened to adopt the resolution.
Dr. Borris’ full speech can be viewed on UN Webcast website. To learn more, please visit www.dreileenborris.com and www.GlobalPeaceInitiatives.com .
About Dr. Eileen Borris
As a political psychologist, Dr. Borris works with emerging democracies, helping nations of people reconcile centuries-old conflicts through forgiveness. She also designs regional and national dialogue processes that help emerging democracies heal from the wounds of the past and find the best plausible and peaceful future.
She was recently selected as one of the 25 Good Business New York™ Leading Women of 2012. This recognition is honoring change-agents who are actively and effectively pursuing positive and creative avenues to create a better world through business, finance, and work.
Dr. Borris is the director of training and program development for the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD), whose mission is to promote international peace building and transform deep-rooted social conflict. She has extensive consulting experience, having worked in Indonesia for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and with trauma healing programs throughout Liberia through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Dr. Borris teaches international corporate diplomacy in the MBA program at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix, AZ. She has also served on the faculty of American University, the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany, and at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. In January 2007, Dr. Borris was invited to team teach the first conflict resolution course ever offered by the U.S. military at the National Defense University.
Dr. Borris is a prolific writer, publishing many articles and books on the topic of forgiveness. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama wrote forewords for both her award-winning books, Forgiveness the Ultimate Freedom, and Finding Forgiveness: A 7-Step Program for Letting Go of Anger and Bitterness (McGraw Hill, 2006). A native New Yorker, Dr. Borris received her doctorate and masters degree from Columbia University.
Mediation Services at IMTD
The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy announces the launch of its new mediation services, which will be available to individuals, non-profit organizations, and businesses in the DC Region. IMTD’s Mediation Services now offers several highly-qualified mediators with expertise in the following areas:
- Personal Injury mediation
- Insurance contract mediation
- Domestic and International business contract mediation
- Professional partnership dissolution
- Victim-offender mediation
- Church mediation
- Landlord-Tenant mediation
Benefits of Mediation
Mediation allows people should try to work out disputes between the parties involved before they resort to litigation or arbitration, which can be costly and time-consuming. In mediation, the participants are in control. You can schedule the mediation when it is convenient for you, and you have the freedom to end the mediation at any point. Mediation allows you to address the issues that are important to you and it gives each party the opportunity to develop an agreement that meets everyone’s needs.
Schedule Your Mediation
To schedule a mediation, or to obtain more information about our mediation services, please contact Karen Dickman at kdickman@imtd.org.
Professional Development Program
The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy is pleased to announce the inauguration of its new Professional Development Program.
IMTD draws upon a network of leading experts, built over the course of 20 years, to design and lead the professional training courses. We use a participant-centered approach in the design of each course, taking into consideration the participants’ fields of study, cultures, ages, genders, needs, and goals obtained through a careful research and evaluation process. The program is structured to ensure that students will be able to apply newfound skills immediately to their professional and personal lives by learning through a variety of teaching techniques and analyzing real-world case studies. Participants will leave each course with a greater understanding of the systems-based approach to resolving conflict after they learn about the interconnectedness of various entities and how they can operate simultaneously in a conflict.
While IMTD offers pre-scheduled courses, we are also equipped to design courses that meet the needs of a particular business or organization. To find out more information about our program or upcoming courses, please visit imtdprodev.org or contact Natalie Littlefield, Business Development Manager, at nlittlefield@imtd.org or Cathryn Meurn, Business Development Officer, at cmeurn@imtd.org.
Global Economic Symposium 2011 , Kiel Germany
The Global Economic Symposium 2011 held its third annual conference on October 5 and 6, 2011 in Kiel, Germany. John W. McDonald, Ambassador (ret.) and Chairman of our Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, was invited to speak on a panel focusing on “Water Scarcity and Virtual Water Trade”. Ambassador McDonald introduced IMTD’s “Three Rivers Project” which addresses the need for the creation of an International Water Commission, made up of members from each of the states along the Tigris, Euphrates and Jordan Rivers, to facilitate peaceful collaboration in the use of surface and ground waters. This project was included in the GES Ideas Fair 2011 of ten projects with potential significance and feasibility. In addition, Ambassador McDonald also urged faster progress to bring safe drinking water and sanitation to the people in the developing world, and especially to establish sanitary facilities in the schools which do not have them, to enable girls after entering the stage of puberty to continue their education instead of being retained at home for their own safety.
John W. McDonald on the Panel for Water Scarcity and Virtual Water Trade With Richard Evans, CEO (rtd.) Alcan Inc, Joachim von Braun ZEF Bonn and Yacob Tsur, Hebrew University Jerusalem
At the Ideas Fair: McDonald explaining the Three Rivers Project in greater detail
Great interest in safe drinking water and sanitation
Ideas Fair: Three Rivers Project and Safe Drinking Water
Raising awareness about Kartarpur Marg
Peace Day Celebration on Capitol Hill
On Tuesday, September 20, IMTD joined the Alliance for Peacebuilding, Friends Committee on National Legislation, 3P Human Security, Rotary International of Dupont Circle, and Shalom Educating for Peace in hosting an International Peace Day celebration on Capitol Hill. Ice cream was served as attendees learned about the campaign to pass through Congress the Youth PROMISE Act (H.R. 2721), and about efforts to endorse the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Complex Crisis Fund. Speakers included Congressman Bobby Scott, of the Third District of Virginia.India and Pakistan: A journey of Combined Fates? Lecture & Book Event
On Monday, September 12, 2011, the School for Conflict Analysis & Resolution (SCAR) presented former Ambassador John W. McDonald who discussed his most recent peacebuilding project, Kartarpur Marg: A Punjab-Punjab Peace Corridor encompassing religious and spiritual diplomacy across the India-Pakistan border. In addition, Mr. Trividesh S. Maini, a scholar on India and Pakistan Affairs from New Delhi will presented his latest book titled, Warriors after War: Indian and Pakistani Retired Military Leaders Reflect on Relations between the Two Countries, Past, Present and Future. Read more about Mr. Trividesh S. Maini…New NDU Class begins
On September 13th, 2011 we began our tenth class at the National Defense University of the course entitled “Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding”. Eighteen participants from twelve countries are currently enrolled. The NDU has a ten-month masters program for colonels and senior civilians from around the world. Since January 2007 we have graduated 125 colonels and senior civilians from 46 countries. The goal of the course is to teach the participants there are other ways than the gun to solve conflict.
UMASS BOSTON HONORS STUDENT WITH NEW AWARD
The University of Massachusetts, Boston, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security and Global Governance of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, established the Ambassador John W. McDonald Award for Leadership and Innovation in Global Governance and Conflict Resolution. “Given annually to a graduating Master’s student in the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security and Global Governance, this award is inspired by the life and work of Ambassador McDonald (ret.) and his ambition to integrate thought and action in solving global challenges through innovative means at all levels of governance.” Ambassador McDonald presented the first award to M.A. graduate student, Vanessa DiCarlo, on June 3, 2011.A Visit to Berlin, Germany
Following an invitation from Dr. Juan Diaz, one of the founders of the CSSProject in Berlin, Ambassador John W. McDonald was a guest lecturer from June 6 to June 8, 2011 at a Multi-Track Peace Mediation Course in Berlin, organized by the CSSProject for Integrative Mediation (www.cssproject.org), Immedio (www.institut-inmedio.de/) and the Berghof Peace Support (www.berghof-peacesupport.org).This course, part of a five modules-series over several months, entitled “Dynamics of Conflicts in Multicultural Environments” had a unique focus on multi-track peace mediation in a political context and the working language was English. At the end of three full days and three lectures, with 14 professionals from various parts of the world who wanted to increase their mediation skills, the organizers invited everyone on June 8, 2011, to the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Government to a panel discussion on Peace Building, Peace Mediation and Private Diplomacy.
Dr. Dieter Wolkewitz (CSSP) and Dirk Splinter (Immedio) welcomed almost 70 persons from the German Parliament, the German Foreign Office and other interested institutions and then turned the floor over to Ambassador McDonald, the key note speaker, addressing the advantages of a multi-track diplomacy systems approach to peacebuilding. Panel members were Ms. Edelgard Bulmahn (member of the German Parliament-SPD), Ms. Kerstin Mueller (member of the German Parliament (Green), Mr. Guenther Nooke, (CDU – Special Assistant for Africa for German Chancellor Angela Merkel) and Dr. Tobias Pietz (Berlin Centre for International Peace Operations). Many questions from the audience led to a lively discussion, which continued late into the evening, moderated expertly by Dr. Juan Diaz, the Director of CSSP.
PUNJAB PEACE ZONE STUDY
The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD) is proud to offer a report outlining the plan to create an International Peace Zone on the Indian-Pakistani border which would link the holy sites of Dera Baba Nanak in India with Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.This ground-breaking and unique 55 page report describes the manner in which the corridor could be built, complete with architectural schematics and engineering diagrams, in order to fulfill the longing of the Sikh community to visit the place that Guru Nanak spent the last 18 years of his life easily and safely.
WORKING METHODS
We only intervene in conflict upon its stakeholders request and all our funds go to our projects, because we do not spend money on payroll. IMTD is unique by using graduate students as Project Officers, who have broad authority to influence the direction of their work. Read more about our unique peacebuilding model… Edited
A Visit to Berlin, Germany
Following an invitation from Dr. Juan Diaz, one of the founders of the CSSProject in Berlin, Ambassador John W. McDonald was a guest lecturer from June 6 to June 8, 2011 at a Multi-Track Peace Mediation Course in Berlin, organized by the CSSProject for Integrative Mediation (www.cssproject.org), Immedio (http://www.institut-inmedio.de/) and the Berghof Peace Support (www.berhof-peacesupport.org).
This course, part of a five modules-series over several months, entitled “Dynamics of Conflicts in Multicultural Environments” had a unique focus on multi-track peace mediation in a political context and the working language was English. At the end of three full days and three lectures, with 14 professionals from various parts of the world who wanted to increase their mediation skills, the organizers invited everyone on June 8, 2011, to the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Government to a panel discussion on Peace Building, Peace Mediation and Private Diplomacy.
Dr. Dieter Wolkewitz (CSSP) and Dirk Splinter (Immedio) welcomed almost 70 persons from the German Parliament, the German Foreign Office and other interested institutions and then turned the floor over to Ambassador McDonald, the key note speaker, addressing the advantages of a multi-track diplomacy systems approach to peacebuilding. Panel members were Ms. Edelgard Bulmahn (member of the German Parliament-SPD), Ms. Kerstin Mueller (member of the German Parliament (Green), Mr. Guenther Nooke, (CDU – Special Assistant for Africa for German Chancellor Angela Merkel) and Dr. Tobias Pietz (Berlin Centre for International Peace Operations). Many questions from the audience led to a lively discussion, which continued late into the evening, moderated expertly by Dr. Juan Diaz, the Director of CSSP.