OSNABRÜCK, Germany — On my trip this week from Beirut, Lebanon, to Osnabrück, Germany, I feel as if I have experienced modern world history in reverse. The contrast between the two cities is instructive, as Europe and the Middle East both wrestle with a universal concern: What is the ideal relationship among the identity of individuals, the interests of communal groups, and the well-being and security of states?
Osnabrück was one of the two cities, with Münster, where the historic Peace of Westphalia was negotiated then signed in 1648, ending the 30 Years War. This effectively marked the end of the Holy Roman Empire, and ushered in the European system of sovereign nation-states, which was subsequently exported to the rest of the world in the European colonial period.
Much of the contemporary Arab World, with pockets of Africa and Asia, represents the turbulent and problematic legacy of Euro-manufactured statecraft, in the form of countries that remain unstable and violent. Some slowly export their problems to other parts of the world, in the form of terrorism, drugs, criminality, refugees and illegal migrants. To travel as I have this week from the region of the world’s least successful nation-states to the city where the modern nation-state system was born is a humbling but instructive experience.
In talks with the mayor, university professors, businessmen and women, and other citizens of Osnabrück, it became clear that the legacy of the Peace of Westphalia is not just a tourism marketing strategy or a warm source of inner pride. It also offers a live, immensely relevant set of principles that countries struggling with violent instability should re-learn and apply in their own ways.
The parties that negotiated the Peace of Westphalia — Sweden and France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands and other smaller ones — agreed on historic compromises that define key state and personal rights to this day: state sovereignty, religious and personal freedoms, the right of national self-determination, equality among all states, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. Calvinism was recognized and disagreements among religious groups were henceforth to be resolved through negotiated compromises, which included some rotating leadership between Protestants and Catholics.
Osnabrück reminds the world that peace is achievable even in the most intractable and violent conflicts if a few core principles are applied, especially equality, freedom, and tolerance. Peace-making and lasting stability also require taking into consideration the legitimate interests of all parties to a conflict. This modern history suggests that boycotting key players while speaking of peace-making is the stuff of fantasy. Realistic compromises among all parties that are treated equally is a more effective approach.
This same spirit is manifested at the local level in the practice of good governance, democracy and accountability, as one is reminded when walking into the very moving Great Council Chamber of the Osnabrück town hall. This is where the peace treaty was negotiated over several years, and has been known since 1648 as the “Peace Hall.” A Latin inscription here since 1605 reminds the city councilors that the well-being of the city and its citizens must come before the personal interests of political leaders. It reads: “Whosoever you are who enter this room to give council, remember that public matters must be placed above private ones.”
Fast forward to Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Syria, Algeria and much of the Arab world today, where the principles of freedom, equality, honest government, tolerance and negotiated compromises are increasingly rare phenomena. In particular, Lebanon’s dysfunctional government, tense domestic inter-sectarian relations, simmering violence, and web of increasingly confrontational relations at home and abroad represent everything that the Peace of Westphalia sought to end.
So a journey from Beirut to Osnabrück is both painful and uplifting. The pain comes from experiencing the contrast between an immobilized governance system in Lebanon and the contemporary European legacy of sensible political rule anchored in the Westphalian principles. There is no reason why the Arab world cannot share in the stability and prosperity that defines most of Europe, other perhaps than incompetent and often dishonest Arab leaders who allow their countries to get hopelessly entangled in debilitating conflicts with Israel, the US, and some Europeans. Before 1648, after all, much of Europe suffered similar weaknesses to the modern Arab world, but ultimately pulled out of its troubles.
The trip from Beirut to Osnabrück is also uplifting, though, because of the reminder that the principles of the Peace of Westphalia are universal, not only European. Europe itself continues today to grapple with constitutional issues related to ensuring a fair distribution of power in the expanded European Union. The process of making peace according to Westphalian principles is not only a history lesson, but also a living code of conduct for citizenries that are sensible and political leaders who are realistic and mature.
Rami G. Khouri is an internationally syndicated columnist, the director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star, and co-laureate of the 2006 Pax Christi International Peace Award.
Copyright ©2007 Rami G. Khouri / Agence Global
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Released: 23 June 2007
Word Count: 803
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