David BrewsterI find this (long) article to be illuminating about the Peace of Westphalia (1648), here given a revisionist interpretation, and how it was achieved, and its lessons for a Mideast peace structure. A key lesson: “Peace will only last if external guarantors collectively enforce respect among states for their people’s basic rights of religion, property, and due process. One of the key legacies of the Westphalian system was its innovative guarantor system, which enabled the signatories to enforce the terms of the settlement and set up a collective security system that encompassed both the internal guarantors (emperor and princes) and the external guarantors (France and Sweden).”
Why the Peace of Westphalia, which helped end a series of bloody wars in seventeenth century Europe, could work for the Middle East today.
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