events / 11 March 2024

The Case for a New International Law for Peace

Event

11/03/2024

Against the backdrop of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union – and as part of the “Europe Talks” series organised by the Belgian Consulate in Barcelona, Fundación “la Caixa”, CIDOB, and Club de Roma – this talk by IFIT’s Founder and Executive Director, Mark Freeman, addresses “The Case for a New International Law for Peace”.

While there is international law to regulate the conduct of internal armed conflicts and promote human rights, there is no corresponding body of international law to incentivise states to choose the path of negotiation – whether to prevent internal armed conflict in the first place or to resolve it once underway.

Freeman’s talk addresses the opportunity to fill this gap. He also presents a new concept – “fast-track negotiation” – meant to overcome the dependence on a current paradigm of negotiation that is idealistic and slow, and thus a mismatch for the vast majority of conflict situations.