Unofficial Peace Diplomacy: Private Peace Entrepreneurs in Conflict Resolution Processes. By LiorLehrs. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2022

With wars raging in Ukraine and Sudan, tensions rising in Nagorno-Karabakh and the South China Sea, and armed conflict escalating between Israel and Palestine, Lior Lehrs' new book, Unofficial Peace Diplomacy: Private Peace Entrepreneurs in Conflict Resolution Processes, is urgently needed. Lehrs presents courageous citizens on one side of a conflict who have taken important steps to try to make peace with the leadership on the other side when official diplomacy has failed. He also offers a conceptual framework to analyze this unique phenomenon of civilian diplomacy. It was during his study of the Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts that Lehrs discovered that alongside official diplomatic efforts to resolve these conflicts, there were also important unofficial initiatives by civilians taking place, but that their work had not been well-researched. Unofficial Peace Diplomacy is based on Lehr's doctoral research on these private peace entrepreneurs in conflicts around the world. Lehrs is the recently appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is also affiliated with the Swiss Center for Conflict Research, Management, and Resolution. His book is a valuable contribution to the literature on peace, diplomacy, social movements, and international relations. In his first chapter, Lehrs provides a theoretical framework and a typology of what he terms Private Peace Entrepreneurs (PPEs), which he defines as “individual private citizens who, without official authority, initiate channels of communication with official representatives from the opposing side in a conflict, in order to promote a conflict resolution process” (1). He categorizes the PPEs by type: journalists, business leaders, religious leaders, former officials, and politicians without official authorization. He develops a multivariable system of analysis to examine and compare the PPEs' characteristics, activities, and resources on the official diplomatic sphere and on public discourse. Four extraordinary PPEs from different conflicts, periods, and geographical regions are presented as case studies in Chapters 2–5. For each case study, Lehrs provides a brief historical context to the conflict and the PPE's life story and worldview. He describes the efforts each PPE made to resolve the conflict. The author then analyzes the PPE's impact and effectiveness using his multivariable system. In the appendix, the author lists an additional thirty-six PPEs for further investigation. Lehrs gathered rich information about each PPE from private and official archives, historical studies, memoirs, biographies, and interviews to impressively construct each case study. With this diligent methodological approach, he is able to give the reader a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the PPEs' secret activities, closed-door meetings, and private correspondence with officials on the other side. The first PPE presented is Norman Cousins, the editor of the Saturday Review of Literature and co-founder of the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, who worked to improve relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cousins wrote prolifically about his opposition to nuclear weapons and nuclear testing and advocated for peace and disarmament. In 1960, he established the Dartmouth Conferences that brought American and Soviet representatives from various sectors of society together in New Hampshire for dialogue. These conferences were important peacebuilding exercises that continued for three decades. Cousins' articles and activism attracted the attention of the White House and the Kremlin, and led to close relationships with both administrations. In 1962, it was Cousins who influenced President John F. Kennedy to pursue negotiations for a treaty with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom to ban the testing of nuclear weapons. Cousins also suggested to the President that he give a speech to set the stage for treaty talks, and the journalist even provided a preliminary draft of that speech. On June 10, 1963, at American University in Washington, D.C., Kennedy delivered a profound commencement address dedicated to peace, disarmament, and détente with the Soviet Union, based on Cousins' ideas. Kennedy's speech was praised by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, published in full in the Soviet media, and paved the way to the Kremlin's support for the Partial Test Ban Treaty that September. President Kennedy commended Cousins' contributions to the new arms control treaty two months before he was tragically assassinated in November 1963. Lehrs explains that as a prominent journalist PPE, Cousins was able to access and influence high-profile officials and the general public alike, and to make a concrete impact for peace. The second case study is Suzanne Massie, a remarkable American woman who developed a deep understanding of and appreciation for the Russian people by learning their language and traveling regularly to the Soviet Union. She wrote two popular books about Russian history and culture that led to several public speaking engagements. At the height of the Cold War in 1983, when President Ronald Reagan declared the Soviet Union to be an “evil empire,” Massie set out to develop channels of communication with officials in the American government and the Soviet Politburo to reduce tensions between the two countries (118). She first met with Reagan in 1984 and shared her knowledge of and passion for the Russian culture. She proposed a new agreement on cultural exchanges between the two countries. Though a private citizen, Massie frequently briefed Reagan on Soviet affairs and is credited with shaping his conciliatory, constructive relationship with Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. However, hawkish bureaucrats within the US administration opposed Massie's influence on Reagan and shut down her channel to the White House. She, in turn, criticized their hardline stance against the Soviet Union. As Massie is the only woman presented in the book, Lehrs considers some of the gender dimensions of PPEs. He points out that PPEs are predominately men who operate in the masculinized space of international relations. The author acknowledges the challenges that Massie confronted, such as insults charging that “women don't know anything” (130). Yet, Massie was a woman with a commanding expertise of the Russian language, affairs, and culture, which opened doors to senior levels of the American and Soviet governments, and she has been credited as the woman who helped end the Cold War. The third PPE profiled is Brendan Duddy, a businessman and Catholic pacifist in Derry, Northern Ireland, who established secret channels of communication between leaders in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and officials in the British government from 1973 to 1993. Duddy hosted meetings with PIRA representatives at his home and developed relationships with British officers appointed to Belfast. Duddy developed these channels to carry messages between the parties and promote dialogue to end the violent conflict in Northern Ireland. As an intermediary, Duddy maintained discretion, and his mediation efforts contributed to temporary ceasefires and releases of prisoners. In solidarity with IRA prisoners who were on a hunger strike in British custody, Duddy also went on a public hunger strike to urge the British government to take action and meet the prisoners' demands. Though Duddy was not successful at times and made mistakes by acting unilaterally, his civilian diplomatic efforts over three decades, as Lehrs explains, helped pave the way to the historic Good Friday Agreement that brought a political settlement and peace to Northern Ireland. The fourth case study is of Uri Avnery, a journalist and politician in Israel, who developed secret channels with officials in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) between 1975 and 1985. Avnery edited a popular weekly magazine that widely disseminated his progressive views about peace and a two-state solution to resolve the armed conflict between Israel and Palestine. As a journalist PPE, Avnery contributed to influencing public and political discourse for negotiations between the Israeli government and the PLO. Avnery also won election to the Knesset, which gave him greater legitimacy and authority. Defying Israeli regulations prohibiting contacts with the PLO, Avnery developed close relationships with two high-ranking representatives, in particular, Said Hammami and Issam Sartawi. Through his different roles as a journalist and politician PPE, Avnery was able to build a large network of contacts on both sides of the conflict, and he co-founded the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace to push for a settlement. Avnery's unofficial diplomatic efforts contributed to the establishment of the Oslo peace process in the early 1990s. As Lehrs demonstrates in his book, by establishing channels of communication, PPEs were able to “move opposing parties toward each other” (131). He does not overestimate the influence of the four PPEs presented, but he does suggest that they made meaningful contributions to eventual official peace initiatives. His compelling case studies reveal the importance of talking with “the other side” to build trust and manage conflicts, as well as the power of individuals to make peace. Most significantly, the author shows that through relationship building over time, PPEs can help to “transform the enemy image” and humanize the other side (233) Thus, the author argues that PPEs warrant greater consideration in peacemaking processes and in academic study, because they play a significant role in mediating conflict. Lehrs' multivariable system of analysis of PPEs' activities is a useful tool to examine the characteristics and impact of future peacemakers. Unofficial Peace Diplomacy is an excellent book that will not only inform and inspire scholars, students, and activists, but give them hope. Tamara Lorincz is a Ph.D. candidate in Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. She did her Masters of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom. She is a fellow of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute as well as a member of the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom-Canada.

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