International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy
Encyclopedia
The EastWest Institute
established the multiyear International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy as the flagship of its Conflict Prevention Program in May 2007. The Task Force has one core purpose: it will investigate and promote concrete ways of strengthening practical mechanisms to build domestic and international political will to shorten the time between early warning and effective early response to violent conflict. To this end, the Task Force has adopted a set of Guiding Principles as a framework for its activities over the next few years.
The strategic goal of the Task Force is to devise practical mechanisms to generate domestic and international political will to shorten the time between early warning and effective early action to prevent violent conflict. The strategic goal can be achieved by engaging high-level decision makers and other key stakeholders, in action oriented activities to promote and carry out preventive diplomacy. To this end the Task Force will serve as an adviser, initiator, innovator, and advocate on preventive diplomacy.
The Task Force has the advantage of flexibility, combining bottom-up and top-down approaches, and has the leeway to move quickly and discuss difficult issues that others are not in a position to. Its well-renowned members are action-oriented, and provide an opportunity to fill existing gaps in preventive diplomacy.
Martti Ahtisaari
(Chairman of the Board Crisis Management Initiative, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process for Kosovo)
Sadiq al-Mahdi
(President of Umma Party and Imam of Alansar, Sudan)
Lakhdar Brahimi
(Former Under Secretary General and Special Adviser of the Secretary General of the United Nations; Former Foreign Minister for Algeria)
Kim Campbell
(The Right Honourable, P.C., Q.C.)
Jan Eliasson
(Ambassador, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Darfur)
Gareth Evans
(President and CEO of International Crisis Group)
His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal (President of the Arab Thought Forum)
Thorvald Stoltenberg
(President of the Norwegian Red Cross)
Brigalia Bam (Chairperson, Independent Electoral Commission)
Gidon Bromberg (Israeli Director, Friends of the Earth Middle East)
Scilla Elworthy
(Founder Oxford Research Group, Founder Peace Direct)
Gernot Erler (Minister of State, Federal Foreign Office)
Carmen Maria Gallardo Hernandez
(Vice-Chairperson of the UN Peace Building Commission; Ambassador and Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the UN)
Peter Gastrow (Institute for Security Studies, Cape Town Director)
Thomas Greminger(Head of Political Affairs Division IV / Human Security; Chairman of the Centre for Peace Promotion (Swisspeace
))
Mahmoud Labadi (Foreign Relations Commission, Palestinian Authority)
Nick Mabey (Chief Executive of E3G)
Ahmet M. Oren (CEO of Ihlas Holding A.S., EWI Board Member)
Paul B. Stares (General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Preventive Action, Council on Foreign Relations)
Paul van Tongeren (Secretary General of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict
)
Dmitri Trenin (Deputy Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center)
Sundeep Waslekar (President, Strategic Foresight Group)
Zhou Xingbao (Vice-Chairman and Secretary General of the China National Committee Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific - CSCAP)
EastWest Institute
The EastWest Institute , originally known as the Institute for East West Security Studies, is an international not-for-profit, non-partisan "think and do" tank focusing on international conflict resolution through a variety of means, including track 2 diplomacy and track 1.5 diplomacy , hosting...
established the multiyear International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy as the flagship of its Conflict Prevention Program in May 2007. The Task Force has one core purpose: it will investigate and promote concrete ways of strengthening practical mechanisms to build domestic and international political will to shorten the time between early warning and effective early response to violent conflict. To this end, the Task Force has adopted a set of Guiding Principles as a framework for its activities over the next few years.
The strategic goal of the Task Force is to devise practical mechanisms to generate domestic and international political will to shorten the time between early warning and effective early action to prevent violent conflict. The strategic goal can be achieved by engaging high-level decision makers and other key stakeholders, in action oriented activities to promote and carry out preventive diplomacy. To this end the Task Force will serve as an adviser, initiator, innovator, and advocate on preventive diplomacy.
The Task Force has the advantage of flexibility, combining bottom-up and top-down approaches, and has the leeway to move quickly and discuss difficult issues that others are not in a position to. Its well-renowned members are action-oriented, and provide an opportunity to fill existing gaps in preventive diplomacy.
Mission
- Foster the linkage between the various phases of the conflict cycle (prevention, management, post-conflict peacebuilding, reconciliation).
- Provide an additional resource to complement ongoing UN and regional processes and make timely interventions when official efforts have failed.
- Offer assistance and skills in quiet diplomacy, negotiation, problem-solving, mediation and facilitation to help build confidence and trust.
Initiatives
- Creation of an International Panel on Conflict Prevention and Human Security.
- Establishment of an International Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention and Human Security with the goal of developing support for national and international legislative mechanisms and structures to direct political will and resources toward conflict prevention.
- Awareness raising campaign, and high-level advocacy campaign targeted at national and international policy makers.
- Publish joint policy briefs from international figures and policy makers from the traditional security, development and foreign affairs communities that address practical considerations in moving to a culture of prevention.
- Establish a Conflict Transformation Collaborative of conflict prevention practitioners from around the world and involve them in transferring knowledge and skills to the local and regional level.
- Establish a broad network of media organizations and journalists who promote and work on conflict prevention.
- Develop a resourcing framework for preventive diplomacy.
- Video project on preventive diplomacy: members of the High-Level Advisory Board explain the complexities and the high stakes of conflict prevention and preventive diplomacy.[video]
Composition
The Task Force is a multi-year project composed of two structures: a regionally and institutionally balanced Core Group of 16 experts known for their engagement in preventive diplomacy/conflict prevention and a High-Level Advisory Board of 8 eminent persons who support the work of the Core Group by lending their advice, public outreach, moral standing, and access to media and decision makers.Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....
(Chairman of the Board Crisis Management Initiative, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process for Kosovo)
Sadiq al-Mahdi
Sadiq al-Mahdi
Sadiq al-Mahdi is a Sudanese political and religious figure...
(President of Umma Party and Imam of Alansar, Sudan)
Lakhdar Brahimi
Lakhdar Brahimi
Lakhdar Brahimi is a veteran United Nations envoy and advisor. He retired from his duties at the end of 2005. Brahimi is a member of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, the first global initiative to focus specifically on the link between exclusion, poverty and law...
(Former Under Secretary General and Special Adviser of the Secretary General of the United Nations; Former Foreign Minister for Algeria)
Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
(The Right Honourable, P.C., Q.C.)
Jan Eliasson
Jan Eliasson
Jan Kenneth Eliasson is a Swedish diplomat and Social Democratic politician.- Biography :Jan Eliasson was born in a working-class family in Gothenburg. He was an AFS exchange student in Indiana, United States, from 1957 to 1958 and was commissioned reserve officer after military training at the...
(Ambassador, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Darfur)
Gareth Evans
Gareth Evans (politician)
Gareth John Evans, AO, QC , is a former Australian politician from 1978 to 1999 representing the Australian Labor Party, serving in a number of ministries including Attorney-General and Foreign Minister from 1983 to 1996 in the Hawke and Keating governments. He was president and chief executive...
(President and CEO of International Crisis Group)
His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal (President of the Arab Thought Forum)
Thorvald Stoltenberg
Thorvald Stoltenberg
Thorvald Stoltenberg is a former Norwegian politician. His ancestors stem from Northern Germany and emigrated to Norway in the 17th century. He served as Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs in two Labour governments.From 1989 to 1990 he was appointed Norwegian Ambassador to the UN...
(President of the Norwegian Red Cross)
Brigalia Bam (Chairperson, Independent Electoral Commission)
Gidon Bromberg (Israeli Director, Friends of the Earth Middle East)
Scilla Elworthy
Scilla Elworthy
Scilla Elworthy is the founder of the Oxford Research Group, a non-governmental organisation which seeks to develop effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers worldwide and their critics...
(Founder Oxford Research Group, Founder Peace Direct)
Gernot Erler (Minister of State, Federal Foreign Office)
Carmen Maria Gallardo Hernandez
Carmen María Gallardo Hernández
Carmen María Gallardo Hernández is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations. She is the first woman to be appointed to that position. She also serves as Vice-Chairperson of the UN's newly created Peacebuilding Commission and was formerly the Chairperson...
(Vice-Chairperson of the UN Peace Building Commission; Ambassador and Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the UN)
Peter Gastrow (Institute for Security Studies, Cape Town Director)
Thomas Greminger(Head of Political Affairs Division IV / Human Security; Chairman of the Centre for Peace Promotion (Swisspeace
Swisspeace
Swisspeace is a practice-oriented peace research institute located in Bern, Switzerland. It analyzes the causes of violent conflicts in order to develop strategies for their peaceful transformation.-History:...
))
Mahmoud Labadi (Foreign Relations Commission, Palestinian Authority)
Nick Mabey (Chief Executive of E3G)
Ahmet M. Oren (CEO of Ihlas Holding A.S., EWI Board Member)
Paul B. Stares (General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Preventive Action, Council on Foreign Relations)
Paul van Tongeren (Secretary General of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict
Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict
The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict is a global civil society-led network which seeks to build an international consensus on peacebuilding and the prevention of violent conflict...
)
Dmitri Trenin (Deputy Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center)
Sundeep Waslekar (President, Strategic Foresight Group)
Zhou Xingbao (Vice-Chairman and Secretary General of the China National Committee Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific - CSCAP)
External links
- http://www.ewipreventivediplomacy.org/
- http://www.ewi.info