Tomorrow’s presentation in the York Centre for International & Security Studies (YCISS) Afternoon Seminar Series features Amira Schiff of the Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Schiff will discuss the underlying models and concepts relating to unofficial diplomacy in the drafting of the Geneva Accords.
Her talk, titled " ‘Quasi-Track Two’ Diplomacy: A Realistic Analysis of the Geneva Process in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict", will take place Tuesday, April 8, from 2:30 to 4pm, in 305 York Lanes, Keele campus. Schiff is a faculty member in the Conflict Management and Negotiation Program of the Political Studies Department at Bar-Ilan University.
A visiting scholar at YCISS, Schiff specializes in international relations, conflict management & conflict resolution theories, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and the peace process in Cyprus. In her presentation, she will look at the unofficial diplomacy theory by examining the process leading up to the drafting of the Geneva Accords. This process was represented to the public in October 2003 as an act of unofficial diplomacy, and is defined in the literature as an act of track two, or specifically, hard track two diplomacy.
Schiff will examine whether or not the process is consistent with current definitions of unofficial diplomacy. She will suggest that the Geneva process constitutes a distinct type of unofficial activity and that its unique features may have significant implications on the peace process.
Her recently published PhD dissertation focused on pre-negotiation processes in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and in the Cyprus conflict. Her recent article, "Pre-negotiation and its Limits in Ethno-National Conflicts: A Systematic Analysis of Process and Outcomes in the Cyprus Negotiations", is forthcoming in International Negotiation, 2008.
For more information, e-mail YCISS at yciss@yorku.ca.