Negotiating the Impossible

NOTES

Introduction: The Most Ancient Lesson in Peacemaking

1. The record for most ancient arbitration is held by the deal reached by King Mesilim, which was designed to end the conflict between the city-states of Lagash and Umma, in the Sumer region of Mesopotamia (now Iraq), an agreement that dates back over four thousand years, to 2500 BCE.

2. See Christine Bell, On the Law of Peace: Peace Agreements and the Lex Pacificatoria (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 81.

3. Inevitably, some of the stories involve situations that were even more complex than the versions recounted here: more parties, more forces at play, and more issues at stake. The attempt has been to shine a brighter light on the events and actions that illustrate important ...