"... I find no absolution in my rational point of view
maybe some things are instinctive, but there's one thing we can do
you could try to understand me
I could try to understand you ..."

-- Rush, "Open Secrets"

Hello, all ...

I think this subject is germane to environmental awareness while retaining our individuality, since our environment is a valuable resource, and contention for resources so very often breeds conflict. However, if it's not deemed so, the moderator can delete this thread and i'll not complain.

Anyway, i've got this peculiar bee in my bonnet that is buzzing around, saying "learn about diplomacy, conflict resolution, human interfacing and trust in the hopes of furthering peacemaking / building / keeping." What am I, a geeky software engineer / quasi-goth / nerd who often understands C++ compilers better than people, interested in pursuing dipomacy for, you may ask? I think it's basically a manifestation of this ideal that I have, that tells me that we have a lot more in common than we may initially reailze. Also, with the current administration's ... erm, issues ... with the idea of soliciting any sort of input from those who look at the world in a more nuanced, less black-and-white way, I figure that the more citizen diplomats we have, the more we can give the world reasons to like the USA again.

In my endeavors, I snarfed Dr. Louise Diamond's / Ambassador John MacDonald's book, "Multi-Track Diplomacy: A Systems Approach to Peace." Being the pragmatic, rational, thoughtful type, the subtitle resonated with me. I'm reading this book, but this book is barely 165 pages long (not counting the bibliiography), and I suspect i'll have many of the same questions after i've finished as I do now.

So, does anyone here know of any references to this science / art? Discertations on specific cases where diplomacy (on any level) resulted in people understanding one another more and avoiding conflict would also be very welcome.

Regards,

John, who can hear the crickets already ;-)

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