Truce: A Neglected Alternative between War and Peace

FAIN: FT-56709-09

Nir Eisikovits
Suffolk University (Boston, MA 02108-2770)

We have not thought enough about truces. By and large, Western political thought is committed to a false dichotomy between war and peace. Since truces are neither, we don't pay them serious conceptual attention. That's too bad for three reasons: (1) There are cases where the empirical track record of truces compares favorably with that of peace processes. (2) The desire for perpetual peace--the ambition to fight the war that would end all wars--has made wars longer and more brutal than necessary. (3) Political Islam has a nuanced theology and jurisprudence of truces. Truces save lives. Might we be missing chances for de-escalation by not having a well-developed understanding of truces?