The Foundation also acknowledges our partner in the Israeli- Palestinian project and the Armenia/Azerbaijan Initiative, the Stanford Center on Conflict and Negotiation. Located at Stanford University, the Center investigates the barriers to the negotiated resolution of conflict and works to design innovative means of overcoming them. We thank those center members whose initial support was so important-Professors Kenneth Arrow, Robert Mnookin, the late Amos Tversky, and Robert Wilson-and Prof. Lee Ross, Melanie Greenberg, Esq., and Ms. Lorelei Kelly, who have generously given their time for so long. Without their expertise, spirit of good will, and willingness to move into the unknown, these projects would not have been possible.

We thank our colleagues at the numerous other institutions who have shared their knowledge and experiences with us. In particular, we thank the Kettering Foundation and its International Director, Dr. Harold Saunders, who has moderated so many of the dialogue meetings. His faith in this work, his compassionate spirit, and his generous professional assistance have been invaluable.

We also want to acknowledge the many individuals and the foundations who have given financial support to our efforts. Contributors to the Armenia/Azerbaijan Initiative include the Compton Foundation, the Eurasia Foundation, the Leighty Foundation, the Pike Foundation, the United States Institute for Peace, UNOCAL, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Winston Foundation for World Peace.

To all of our colleagues and friends, named and unnamed, in the United States and abroad, however you have assisted in these projects, we say thank you!

INTRODUCTION

Less visible is the multi-faceted, nonlinear path that has brought the leaders to this public reconciliation. In many recent conflicts, the unseen work of people outside of government has been critical to the peaceful outcome. This nongovernmental activity is given various names-citizen diplomacy, track two diplomacy, and the public peace process-and is practiced by many different members of society. From conflict resolution experts and professionals like doctors or scientists, to members of the faith community and ordinary people, citizens are taking a larger and larger role in peacemaking.

Since the ending of the Cold War in 1989, the Foundation for Global Community, formerly Beyond War, has been involved in two such public peacemaking initiatives. The first focused on Israeli-Palestinian relations, while the second deals with the ongoing conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Each initiative has had two components. First and foremost, the projects have fostered creative dialogue and cooperative efforts between opinion leaders of the groups in conflict. In addition, using a variety of materials and programs, the Foundation has educated Americans about the frames of reference of the conflicting parties, the possibilities for peace, and the processes for building peaceful relationships.

Through its regular publication, which was called On Beyond War up to 1991 and now is called Timeline, the Foundation has chronicled the story of these two public peace processes from the point of view of the facilitating third party. Over time, project team members wrestled with and wrote about many questions born of human peacemaking. How do you come to understand and be compassionate toward the histories and points of view in the conflict without being preoccupied with the past? Where do you find the people willing to work with members of the "enemy camp"? What conceptual framework helps to communicate about the public peacemaking process? What kinds of creativity and flexibility are needed to adjust to unfamiliar cultures, tragic events, and changing needs? How do you move out of your own frame of reference and honor the innate wisdom of the groups you are working with?

These questions are ones which any practitioner of the process will face. On the following pages you can read the accounts and reflections of Beyond War/Foundation for Global Community teams, written for the organization's constituents as the projects unfolded.

This chronicle is organized in four parts. The first section contains conceptual essays on the nature of our changing world, stages of a public peace process, and a systems view of contemporary peacemaking.

The second section contains articles about the Foundation's Israeli- Palestinian project, which began in 1989. The center of the project was a conference held in California in July 1991 that brought together Palestinians and Israelis for dialogue. The outcome was a model peace agreement called Framework for a Public Peace Process:Toward a Peaceful Israeli-Palestinian Relationship, which the participants signed in a public ceremony and took home to share with their governing bodies and fellow citizens. The Foundation also produced a public television documentary, which followed the participants' activities after the conference.

The third section covers the Armenia/Azerbaijan Initiative from its beginning in 1993 up to 1997. Articles describe such experiences as finding and working with partners on the ground and sponsoring two dialogue meetings held in California. The final essays tell of the six months of residence "on the ground," when team members worked in Baku, Azerbaijan; Yerevan, Armenia; and Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh and facilitated a concluding joint working meeting in Tblisi, Georgia.

The appendices contain additional materials related to the public peace process. Appendix A contains previously unpublished e-mail messages sent by Armenia/Azerbaijan team members about their experiences living and working in the Caucasus region. Other appendices include related articles written for other publications, as well as relevant documents. For example, the Framework for a Public Peace Process agreement, signed by Israelis and Palestinians in July 1991, is presented in its entirety.

Finally, if the reader desires more information about the projects, the last page provides information about how to contact the sponsoring organization, the Foundation for Global Community.

The authors featured in these chronicles, as they have probed the dynamics of conflicts and encouraged public peace processes, hope that their writing will inspire others to undertake or to persevere in track two diplomacy. We know that no part of the planet is separate from any other. It is our conviction that people at the grassroots level can, and must, bring their energy, their skills, and most of all, their humanity to the building of peaceful relationships in this interconnected, interdependent world.