Barring natural catastrophes, the single most important factor enhancing human flourishing has been a society’s ability to conduct war with other means: diplomacy. This closely connects the arts of war to the arts of peace. Over the past two centuries Western European and American hegemony have globally enforced the “Westphalian system” of diplomacy, which relies on principles of the equal sovereignty of states, contractual obligations, and coalition-building. Yet, this system is currently failing in the face of strongman politics, world order polarization, mass migration, deep-rooted ethnic conflict, climate injustice, and gross inequality. How can we remake our diplomatic order in the service of collective human flourishing? And what diplomatic models across world history have encouraged the art of peace-making?
