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Tag: peace
Mediation at Westphalia and Russia-Ukraine
After a previous post about the need for mediation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, I thought it would be appropriate for an historical lesson on mediation at the Congress of Westphalia — which was, in a way, one of the most mediated conferences ever. But first, let’s step back and talk about mediation in general. Mediation, …
Peace of Westphalia in the news, 9/2022
Our first entry today is a simple notice about a photo prize competition, the German Peace Prize for Photography. This was apparently added in 2019 as an additional category to the Felix Schoeller Photo Award competition, drawing on the fact that Felix Schoeller is from Osnabrück, and Osnabrück is associated with the Peace of Westphalia. …
And Still It Continues
It is always hazardous to suggest when a war might end, as experience shows that people have been extraordinarily bad in their estimates, especially early in wars. And yet, I thought I saw a reasonable end to the Russia-Ukraine war just a month or so after it started. Russia’s progress was slow and its military …
Treaty of Istanbul?
As you may have read, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are being carried out in person in Istanbul. This seems like a big win for Turkey’s prestige, and specifically for Recep Erdogan. It also seems like the negotiations are progressing, at least to some extent. Russia is pulling back from around Kiev and Chernigov, and …
More Details on Peace Talks
Izvestiya has a very interesting article this evening on Russia’s peace talks with Ukraine. The first thing I noticed was that the idea of a national referendum on peace came, not from Russia, but from Zelensky. Elsewhere the article quotes Zelensky as saying Ukraine “wouldn’t give up a foot of its territory,” which sounds brave …
Peace’s Dark Side?
“The Peace of Westphalia also had its dark side” is the title of a press release from a 2018 conference in Germany. The argument is summed up by a Dutch historian in this way: “While the successful diplomatic negotiations in Osnabrück and Münster brought to the people of Europe the peace that they had long …