Focusing on the various rounds of debates between the 1620s and 1640s on whether or how to seek peace or truce in the war with the Dutch Republic, this explores how agents and counsellors from different parts of the Spanish monarchy navigated the conflict between ideology and necessity-driven pragmatism in contexts of concrete decision-making. Directed at preserving and re-establishing dominion over the various realms of the monarchy, reason of state was at the heart of this weighing of principle and pragmatism. Agents were at the centre of a constant cycle of collecting and assessing information, projecting likely future courses and searching for the utmost expedience within the boundaries of royal conscience and obligations. What solutions were conceivable when attempts to preserve dominion over the Low Countries ran contrary to the demands of the Catholic faith and the preservation of the rest of the monarchy? Could special circumstances allow for special measures or concessions that might deviate from the princely obligations towards justice and the Faith? The chapter shows that as each decade of the war added to its own history, pragmatic arguments and solutions were often inspired by experience, together with a notion of extenuating necessity.

The chapter analyses the peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk.

The increasing participation of armed groups in peace agreements, coupled with the relatively uncertain status of non-state actors under international law, raises a number of important but as yet unsettled questions. This chapter addresses three key issues. The first is the legal status of armed groups under international law. This has direct consequences with respect to the status of peace agreements, and whether they may be regarded as establishing binding international legal obligations or as mere political declarations of intent. The second is the designation of certain groups as ‘terrorist’, and the implications on their participation in peace processes. The third is the role of customary international law vis-à-vis the regulation of peace agreements. The focus of this component is on the potential role of non-state armed groups in the process of creating customary law. Of particular interest is the emergence of customary law regarding the inclusion of human rights considerations in peace agreements.

This chapter attempts to assess whether and to what extent international law can be seen as governing intra-state peace agreements; and, by turning to the practice of negotiating such agreements, whether international legal obligations, such as with respect to the inclusion of civil society actors, have emerged or are currently emerging. Demonstrating that there exist complex relationships between the practice reflected in peace agreements and international law, the chapter argues that when trying to understand these relationships, much depends on our theoretical stance vis-à-vis international law. Relying on an interactional and pluralistic conception of law, this chapter emphasises the relevance of process-related obligations and the continuous creation and adjustment of legal norms. Finally, the chapter considers the reasons why it might be desirable to ground the practice of peace agreements in international law and to allow this practice to contribute to the development of international law.

Chapter 1 illuminates the inherent weaknesses of the French colonial empire on the eve of the Seven Years War and examines initial efforts to embark on imperial reform during peace negotiations between France and Britain. The chapter uses the correspondence of Jean-Antoine Riqueti de Mirabeau, governor of Guadeloupe in the Îles du Vent between 1753 and 1755, to shed light on the problems of the French Caribbean plantation complex and to show how Mirabeau’s experiences influenced the intellectual vision of his older brother, Victor Riqueti de Mirabeau, who co-founded Physiocracy together with François Quesnay. From here, the chapter analyses war-time discussions on the future of the French colonies within the Ministries of the Marine and of Foreign Affairs. While these discussions culminated in the well-known strategy to enhance the French Caribbean plantation complex, the chapter reveals that government officials were also contemplating alternative paths to empire rooted in a vision of mutual prosperity between the metropole and the colonies and a reorientation of colonial empire from the Americas to West Africa.