The Search for Peace

Citation

Coleman, J. (1999), "The Search for Peace", European Business Review, Vol. 99 No. 3, pp. 193-193. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.1999.99.3.193.4

It is unusual for a politician who has had long years at the cutting edge of politics to show such an understanding of all sides in disputes, and indeed that is the key to the search for peace.

Four major events are considered: the Congress of Vienna, the Treaty of Versailles, Yalta and the collapse of communism. His judgements are always interesting and I would only mention the quotation he gives from Disraeli to illustrate the depth of historical insight he brings to bear on his subject:

No language can describe adequately the condition of that large portion of the Balkan Peninsular ‐ Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and other provinces ‐ political intrigues, constant rivalries, a total absence of all public sport in hatred of all races, animosities of rival religions and absence of any controlling power ‐ nothing short of an army of 50,000 of the best troops would produce anything like order in these parts (Disraeli, 1878).

I am tempted to say that it is a book that should be read by both those who are for peace and by those who are against it!