War is presented as an integral part of human society. There are wars for territorial expansion, wars of resistance, punitive or wars of revenge, and wars for liberation. Some wars are fierce, aimed at annihilation of the enemy. Some are wars of attrition, much like the sieges of the past, aimed to exhaust the adversary’s capability to fight, depleting resources and morale.

Wars seem easy to start, but few know how to negotiate the peace. While there have been many truces, there have been very few successful peace treaties.

The oldest surviving peace treaty is the Treaty of Kadesh, signed around 1259-1269 BC between Egypt and the Hittites, to end a war that lasted two centuries to gain mastery over the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. The treaty was honoured until the end of the Hittite empire, 80 years later.

In Europe, the Peace of Westphalia, signed in 1648, ended over 100 years of wars, and established borders of sovereign states. The treaty lasted for over 150 years.

History shows that wars are easy to begin but far harder to end, yet the rhetoric of violence still prevails over the pursuit of peace today

History shows that wars........

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