Power of propaganda

    
 by Prof Dr Sohail Ansari    “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”Zig Ziglar “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "God, His angels and all those in Heavens and on Earth, even ants in their hills and fish in the water, call down blessings on those who instruct others in beneficial knowledge." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 422 The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "A servant of God will remain standing on the Day of Judgment until he is questioned about his (time on earth) and how he used it; about his knowledge and how he utilized it; about his wealth and from where he acquired it and in what (activities) he spent it; and about his body and how he used it." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 148 
Feel non-existent  
·        Effective propaganda makes one feels ‘the enemy’ or ‘the friend’; neither exist.  
9 Tracks of Diplomacy.
Tracks are nothing but the channels that states use as a means of resolving issues of contention through peaceful methods, because killing each other isn't a good idea always.

So, when Modi invited Xi to talk over various issues or when Abe called over Modi, that was Track 1 Diplomacy. Government officials like heads of state, state department or ministry of foreign affairs officials, and other governmental departments and ministries are the main actors in this kind of diplomacy. 
Significance: 
There is a direct communication between the involved states' governments. If there is a third party present to mediate between the main parties, the bilateral meet becomes trilateral and so on depending on the number of parties involved. Track one actors are more likely to have resources and status. They may have powerful 'carrots' and 'sticks' in terms of their ability to intervene militarily, support peace processes/agreements with monitors and peacekeepers, and give or withhold legitimacy, aid, trade or loans, etc.

When the actors involved are not government officials but non-state actors like NGOs, citizens, business parties, conflict resolution specialists, mediapersons, etc, it is called Track 2 Diplomacy. It was being followed in some form or other since the 60s, but the term was officially coined by a diplomat, Joseph V. Montville in an article in a magazine in 1982, as a channel through which
"citizens could take some action rather than simply being bystanders while the grown-up governments acted like jerks,"
Like in 1989, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences hosted the first of a series of conferences bringing together Arab and Israeli participants to discuss possible solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which later served as the foundation to the Olso Accords(Track 1 Diplomacy). 
Significance: 
Track two parties often find it easier to work flexibly, unofficially, and off-the-record, and have less to be concerned about in terms of conveying official/legal recognition. Lacking geopolitical interests and stakes in the conflict, they may be more impartial, forming relationships with a wider variety of actors in the conflict, and hearing things official actors do not. On the other hand, they lack the capacity to compel or coerce parties, can have a harder time 'gaining entry' to a conflict (especially with state actors), and cannot provide the same incentives and guarantees as a track one actor. Importantly, they often lack resources and funding, especially for their more longer-term work that is 'out of the spotlight'.
Dr. Louise Diamond, recognized that lumping all track-two activities under one label did not capture the complexity or breadth of unofficial diplomacy. Therefore, she coined the phrase "multi-track diplomacy" and sliced Track 2 Diplomacy into independent components, based on the actors involved. In 1991, Dr. Diamond and Ambassador McDonald expanded the number of tracks to nine.

Here are the nine tracks:
 www.imtd.org

And here are their details:
Track 1 – Government, or Peacemaking through Diplomacy. This is the world of official diplomacy, policymaking, and peacebuilding as expressed through formal aspects of the governmental process.

Track 2 – Nongovernment/Professional, or Peacemaking through Conflict Resolution. This is the realm of professional non-governmental action attempting to analyze, prevent, resolve, and manage international conflicts by non-state actors.

Track 3 – Business, or Peacemaking through Commerce. This is the field of business and its actual and potential effects on peace-building through the provision of economic opportunities, international friendship and understanding, informal channels of communication, and support for other peacemaking activities.

Track 4 – Private Citizen, or Peacemaking through Personal Involvement. This includes the various ways that individual citizens become involved in peace and development activities through citizen diplomacy, exchange programs, private voluntary organizations, non-governmental organizations, and special-interest groups.

Track 5 – Research, Training, and Education, or peacemaking through Learning. This track includes three related worlds: research, as it is connected to university programs, think tanks, and special-interest research centers; training programs that seek to provide training in practitioner skills such as negotiation, mediation, conflict resolution, and third-party facilitation; and education, including kindergarten through PhD programs that cover various aspects of global or cross-cultural studies, peace and world order studies, and conflict analysis, management, and resolution.

Track 6 – Activism, or Peacemaking through Advocacy. This track covers the field of peace and environmental activism on such issues as disarmament, human rights, social and economic justice, and advocacy of special-interest groups regarding specific governmental policies.

Track 7 – Religion, or Peacemaking through Faith in action. This examines the beliefs and peace-oriented actions of spiritual and religious communities and such morality-based movements as pacifism, sanctuary, and non-violence.

Track 8 – Funding, or Peacemaking through Providing Resources. This refers to the funding community-those foundations and individual philanthropists that provide the financial support for many of the activities undertaken by the other tracks.

Track 9 – Communications and the Media, or Peacemaking through Information. This is the realm of the voice of the people: how public opinion gets shaped and expressed by the media-print, film, video, radio, electronic systems, the arts.
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