Room for Peace
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It has happened before: conflicts that became peace

Six places where people killed each other for years, and then stopped. None of them is "like here", and none of these peaces is perfect. Every one of them was once called unsolvable.

14 min read

Before we start

It is easy to say "our case is different", and it is also true. Every conflict is different. But they said the same in Belfast, Johannesburg and Bogotá, until an agreement was signed.

This page shows three cases between states and three inside divided societies. For each: what it cost, what changed the direction, what each side gave up, and what is still unresolved. Figures are given with the name of their source. At the end: what recurs, and what is different here.

Between states

France and Germany

France · Germany · wars 1870–1945 → reconciliation 1950–1963

The conflict
Three wars in seventy years, in the words of the Nobel Committee1: 1870–1871, 1914–1918 and 1939–1945.
Human cost
In the First World War alone, 1,357,800 French and 1,773,700 German soldiers were killed or died, according to a 1924 US War Department table reproduced by Encyclopaedia Britannica2.
The turning point
The Schuman Declaration, 9 May 19503, and the Élysée Treaty, 22 January 19634.
Who mediated
No one. French foreign minister Robert Schuman made the proposal, and West Germany joined, together with Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg3.
What each side gave up
Both placed their coal and steel production under a shared authority, so that war between them would be impossible in practical terms as well3.
What holds today
Both are members of the European Union, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 20121. More than 10 million young people have taken part in youth exchanges between the two countries since 19635.
Still unresolved
This is the case least like the others: reconciliation began after Germany's total defeat in 1945, not in the middle of a conflict that was still going on.

Five years after the war, Schuman proposed something that looked modest: not a friendship treaty, but joint management of two industries3. Six states built the European Coal and Steel Community on that basis. In 1963 French President Charles de Gaulle and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer signed the Élysée Treaty4, and the Franco-German Youth Office was founded the same year5.

It did not happen fast. Eighteen years passed between the end of the war and the Élysée Treaty. The joint declaration of 1963 itself speaks of a rivalry centuries old4. Reconciliation was built in institutions and meetings, year after year, not in one ceremony.

Egypt and Israel

Egypt · Israel · wars 1948–1973 → peace treaty 1979

The conflict
Four wars in 25 years: 1948, 1956, 1967 and 19736, with a war of attrition along the Suez Canal in between.
Human cost
In the 1973 war alone, 2,688 Israeli soldiers and about 7,700 Egyptian soldiers were killed, according to the Jewish Virtual Library7. Estimates of Egyptian losses vary from source to source.
The turning point
Sadat's visit to Jerusalem in 1977, the Camp David Accords in 1978 and the peace treaty of 26 March 19798.
Who mediated
The United States: Henry Kissinger in the shuttle diplomacy after the 1973 war9, and President Jimmy Carter, who signed the treaty as witness8.
What each side gave up
Israel undertook to withdraw all its forces and civilians from Sinai within three years. Egypt recognised Israel and undertook full diplomatic, economic and cultural relations and free passage through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Tiran8.
What holds today
As of October 2026 the treaty is in force. Security and intelligence coordination continues, and Israeli gas supplies 15 to 20 percent of Egypt's daily consumption10.
Still unresolved
It is a "cold peace". According to an analysis from January 2026, Egypt has no ambassador in Tel Aviv and is holding back approval of Israel's ambassador11. The Carnegie Endowment describes unprecedented political paralysis since 7 October 202310.

After the 1973 war the United States brokered disengagement agreements, and the path ran on from them to the peace treaty9. The step that broke through was one leader's: Anwar Sadat came to Jerusalem. Menachem Begin agreed to evacuate all of Sinai. The treaty set a three-year timetable for the withdrawal8.

The price was heavy. On 6 October 1981 Sadat was assassinated at a military parade in Cairo by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organisation; peace with Israel was one of the motives, not the only one12. The treaty survived the assassination, and survived the wars that followed. It has survived mainly as an arrangement between governments: according to Carnegie, the two states keep security cooperation separate from political relations10.

Ecuador and Peru

Ecuador · Peru · clashes 1941, 1981, 1995 → Brasília agreement 1998

The conflict
A dispute over the border line in the Amazon. A war in 1941, a clash in 1981 and the Cenepa War of January–February 19951314.
Human cost
We found no death toll from an authoritative source, so no number is given here. According to a George Mason University study, about 3,000 Ecuadorian and 2,000 Peruvian combatants were withdrawn from the area after the fighting of 199515.
The turning point
The Itamaraty Declaration of 17 February 1995, which brought military observers to the ground13, and the Presidential Act of Brasília of 26 October 199816.
Who mediated
The four guarantor states: Brazil, Argentina, Chile and the United States. They also sent the observers1615.
What each side gave up
Ecuador accepted a final border line, after declaring in 1960 that the Rio Protocol of 1942, which had set the border, was void. Peru gave Ecuador one square kilometre at Tiwinza, the centre of the fighting, as private property without sovereignty13, and agreed to trade and navigation arrangements16.
What holds today
An agreed border. In 2024 Peru's foreign ministry described a relationship of trust, with joint work on linking infrastructure and energy, trade and investment14.
Still unresolved
According to the same study, one issue stayed open after the agreement: navigation rights on the Amazon15.

After the fighting of 1995, 112 observers from the four guarantor states entered the area and a demilitarised zone was set up15. Only then did negotiations begin, and they lasted more than three years, in four joint commissions15. The agreement was signed by Presidents Alberto Fujimori of Peru and Jamil Mahuad of Ecuador, in the presence of the presidents of Brazil, Argentina and Chile and a representative of the US president16.

The agreement did not rest only on a line on a map. It also included a joint development fund for the border region, transit arrangements for people and vehicles, and infrastructure links16. The Tiwinza solution gave each side something to show its own public: sovereignty for Peru, and for Ecuador a foothold in the place where the fiercest fighting took place13.

Inside divided societies

Northern Ireland

Unionists · Irish nationalists · Britain · Ireland · late 1960s to 1998 → Good Friday Agreement

The conflict
A national, religious and social conflict, in the words of the Nobel Committee17: whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom or unite with Ireland.
Human cost
3,532 deaths between 1969 and 2001, according to the Sutton Index in Ulster University's CAIN archive. The worst year was 1972, with 480 deaths18.
The turning point
The IRA ceasefires of 1994 and 199719, and the Agreement of 10 April 1998. In the referendums of 22 May 1998, 71% in Northern Ireland and 94% in Ireland voted for it20.
Who mediated
US Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the talks19, alongside the British and Irish governments21.
What each side gave up
Ireland changed the articles of its constitution that claimed sovereignty over the whole island. Britain accepted that the majority in Northern Ireland will decide its future. Republicans accepted the principle of consent and disarmament. Unionists accepted power-sharing and the early release of prisoners22.
What holds today
The IRA completed the decommissioning of its arms in 200523. In August 2026 a power-sharing government was in office, led by Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin) and Emma Little-Pengelly (DUP)24.
Still unresolved
Fewer than 10% of pupils attend integrated schools, and dozens of "peace walls" still separate neighbourhoods25. In August 2026 the British government was still advancing a law meant to give answers to victims24.

The road began in secret. In April 1993 John Hume, leader of the moderate nationalist party, and Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Féin, started meeting privately. In December the British and Irish prime ministers issued a joint declaration, and in August 1994 the IRA declared a ceasefire. In February 1996 it collapsed with a bombing in London that killed two people. The talks chaired by Mitchell opened in June 1996, and Sinn Féin joined them only in September 199719. Hume and David Trimble, the unionist leader, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 199817.

Nothing went smoothly. In August 1998 a faction opposed to the agreement killed 29 people in Omagh. Only 52% of Protestants backed the agreement in the referendum26. Disarmament, planned for two years22, was completed after seven23. The power-sharing government collapsed in 2017 and returned in 2020, collapsed again in 2022 and returned in 202425. Even so, the number of deaths fell to 8 in 199918.

South Africa

The apartheid government · the African National Congress (ANC) · 1960–1990 → election 1994

The conflict
White minority rule and racial segregation by law. The ANC was banned in 1960, and Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 196427.
Human cost
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission took testimony from about 21,000 victims covering 1960–199428. According to its report, some 14,000 people died in political violence between mid-1990 and April 1994, that is, during the negotiations themselves29.
The turning point
On 2 February 1990 President F. W. de Klerk began the reform30. On 11 February 1990 Mandela was released31. On 27 April 1994 an election open to all was held32.
Who mediated
No outsider. The sides negotiated directly, in a multi-party forum called CODESA30.
What each side gave up
The white government gave up its monopoly on power. The ANC agreed to a unity government in which its rivals also sat3332, and to conditional amnesty instead of trials: 7,112 people applied for amnesty and 849 received it28.
What holds today
The vote for everyone. The interim constitution of 1993 was repealed in December 1996, with the move to a permanent constitution33.
Still unresolved
Reparations to victims were far lower than the Commission recommended, and only a few people were prosecuted28. The Justice Department reports 137 cases from the Commission period registered for investigation and prosecution34.

Here too it began quietly. In November 1985 Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee visited Mandela in hospital, and from there Mandela initiated talks about a meeting between the government and the ANC. He turned down at least three offers of conditional release31. In 1992 de Klerk asked white voters in a referendum whether to go on, and 68.6% said yes30. Mandela and de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 199335, and Mandela was sworn in as president on 10 May 199431.

The negotiations nearly collapsed more than once. After the Boipatong massacre of June 1992, Mandela accused the government of state terrorism; only in September did he and de Klerk reach understandings, and the talks resumed in March 1993. In April 1993 Chris Hani, an ANC leader, was assassinated30. The most violent years were the years of the transition itself29.

Colombia

The Colombian government · the FARC guerrillas · 1964–2016 → Final Agreement 2016

The conflict
A war between the state and a Marxist guerrilla force that began in 196436, one of the longest civil wars of modern times37.
Human cost
Colombia's Truth Commission counted in 2022: 450,664 people killed between 1985 and 2018, 121,768 disappeared and 7.7 million displaced36.
The turning point
Public talks from October 2012, four years in Havana38, and the signing of the Final Agreement on 24 November 201639.
Who mediated
Cuba and Norway as guarantor countries38, with Venezuela and Chile alongside them39.
What each side gave up
The FARC undertook to end its armed struggle and become a legal political movement3940. The state committed itself to rural reform, to opening up politics, and to a special justice system instead of ordinary criminal trials39.
What holds today
According to the Norwegian government, more than 90% of the 13,500 signatories are keeping their commitments38. The Kroc Institute found that 32% of the agreement's 578 stipulations had been completed by November 202341; its ninth-year report was published in May 202642.
Still unresolved
As of July 2026: 493 former combatants have been killed since the signing. Other armed groups remain active; in April 2026, 21 civilians were killed in a bus bombing. The president elected in June 2026 has criticised the agreement43.

Secret contacts came before the talks38. President Juan Manuel Santos initiated the negotiations, and representatives of victims from all sides took part in them37. The agreement was signed in Cartagena on 26 September 2016, and six days later it was rejected in a referendum: 50.21% against, with only 37.43% of eligible voters taking part44.

Santos did not give up. He sat down with the agreement's opponents, the text was revised, and a new version was signed on 24 November. Congress approved it by 205 votes to none, after the opposition left the chamber44. The Nobel Peace Prize went to Santos a few days after the referendum37. Implementation is slow: the Kroc Institute wrote in 2024 that there is no evidence that almost half the stipulations will be completed by the deadline41. This is peace with one organisation, not the end of violence in Colombia43.

What recurs

A leader who took a political risk
Sadat went to Jerusalem and paid with his life12. Trimble led a public of which only about half backed the agreement26. De Klerk went to a referendum30. Santos lost a referendum and carried on44.
A third party that does not leave
Carter between Egypt and Israel8, Mitchell in Northern Ireland19, the four guarantor states between Ecuador and Peru16, Cuba and Norway in Colombia38. A study by Stephen Stedman found that international involvement is what decides whether those who try to wreck an agreement succeed45. South Africa is the exception30.
A secret channel before the public talks
Hume and Adams in 199319, Mandela and the justice minister in 198531, the preliminary contacts in Colombia38. Oslo I also began, in January 1993, in a secret channel in Norway46.
Each public got something concrete
Egypt got Sinai, and Israel got recognition and free passage through the Canal8. Ecuador got a foothold at Tiwinza, and Peru got a final border13. In Northern Ireland nationalists got a share in government, and unionists got the principle of consent22.
Implementation took years, with setbacks
IRA decommissioning was completed seven years after the agreement23. In Colombia a third of the stipulations were completed in seven years41. The withdrawal from Sinai was planned from the start to take three years8.
Violence tried to stop the process
Omagh in 199826, the assassination of Hani in 199330, the assassination of Sadat in 198112. In these cases the leaders kept going, and the process survived. That is not a law of nature: other processes did not survive.
Victims and citizens were part of the story
Victims' representatives sat in the Colombian talks37. In South Africa about 21,000 victims testified28. In Northern Ireland the public itself approved the agreement in a referendum20. Here too there is a forum of more than 800 bereaved family members, Israelis and Palestinians47.
The economy came after, not before
Between Egypt and Israel, the large gas trade came decades after the treaty10. Between Ecuador and Peru the development fund was part of the agreement itself16. France and Germany are the exception: there the economy was the tool3.

And what is different here

Two national movements, one land
In most of the cases above there were two existing states, or one state in which power had to be shared. Here the United Nations proposed two states as early as 1947. One came into being. Palestine has been a non-member observer state at the UN since 201248.
No agreed line to withdraw to
The peace treaty with Egypt rested on a recognised international boundary8. Between Israel and the Palestinians, borders, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and security arrangements were put off in 1993 to permanent status negotiations49, and the talks on them in 2000 and 2001 were inconclusive48.
A state facing a people without one
In Northern Ireland two sovereign states stood behind the sides, and they signed the agreement21. Here one side is a state, and the other has lived since 1967 under occupation, in the UN's wording48. That changes bargaining power, and also what each side is able to promise.
Jerusalem and the holy places
The 1947 partition plan proposed a special international regime for Jerusalem48, and the proposal was never carried out. In Northern Ireland religion marks the communities, but there is no single holy city there that both sides see as their capital. This is the site's analysis, not a source's finding.
More players around the table
In Colombia and South Africa the decision was mainly an internal one. Here the states of the region are involved too, and the Arab Peace Initiative ties Israel's relations with the whole Arab world to a settlement with the Palestinians.

Sources

  1. Primary The Nobel Prize (nobelprize.org) · 12 October 2012
    The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 – press release (European Union)
  2. Reference Encyclopaedia Britannica
    World War I – Killed, wounded, and missing (table; source given as U.S. War Department, February 1924)
  3. Primary European Union (european-union.europa.eu) · 9 May 1950
    Schuman Declaration, May 1950
  4. Official archive Présidence de la République française (elysee.fr) · 22 January 1963
    Signature du traité de l'Élysée, 22 janvier 1963
  5. Primary Office franco-allemand pour la Jeunesse (OFAJ / DFJW) · 2026
    OFAJ – official website
  6. Reference Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Arab-Israeli wars
  7. Reference Jewish Virtual Library
    The Yom Kippur War: Background and Overview
  8. Primary Avalon Project, Yale Law School · 26 March 1979
    Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt, March 26, 1979
  9. Official archive U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
    The 1973 Arab-Israeli War
  10. Research Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Sada) · 31 August 2026
    Nourhan Hefzy, Gas and Peace: Can Energy Trade Contain Egypt-Israel Conflict?
  11. Press The Jewish Chronicle · 7 January 2026
    Egypt is revising its peace agreement with Israel (analysis)
  12. Research James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
    Al-Jihad al-Islami (Egyptian Islamic Jihad) – profile
  13. Reference Wikipedia
    Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute
  14. Press Andina – Peru News Agency · 28 October 2024
    Peru commemorates 26th anniversary of Brasilia Peace Accords signing
  15. Research Better Evidence Project, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University
    Resolving the militarised territorial dispute between Ecuador and Peru (case study)
  16. Primary PA-X Peace Agreements Database, University of Edinburgh · 26 October 1998
    Acta Presidencial de Brasilia (Ecuador–Peru), 26 October 1998
  17. Primary The Nobel Prize (nobelprize.org) · 16 October 1998
    The Nobel Peace Prize 1998 – press release (John Hume and David Trimble)
  18. Research CAIN Archive, Ulster University
    Malcolm Sutton, An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland – deaths by year, 1969–2001
  19. Research CAIN Archive, Ulster University
    The Irish Peace Process – chronology of key events, 1993–1998
  20. Primary Government of Ireland, Department of Foreign Affairs (ireland.ie)
    About the Good Friday Agreement
  21. Primary Northern Ireland Office (GOV.UK) · 10 April 1998
    The Belfast Agreement
  22. Primary CAIN Archive, Ulster University · 10 April 1998
    The Agreement reached in the multi-party negotiations, 10 April 1998 (full text)
  23. Research CAIN Archive, Ulster University
    The Irish Peace Process – paramilitary decommissioning
  24. Primary Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street (GOV.UK) · 27 August 2026
    PM meeting with First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly of Northern Ireland: 27 August 2026
  25. Research Council on Foreign Relations
    Moving Past the Troubles: The Future of Northern Ireland Peace (backgrounder)
  26. Reference Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Good Friday Agreement
  27. Primary The Nobel Prize (nobelprize.org)
    Nelson Mandela – Biographical
  28. Research United States Institute of Peace
    Truth Commission: South Africa
  29. Primary Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (text hosted by the South African History Archive / SABC) · 1998
    TRC Report, Volume 2, Chapter 7: Political Violence in the Era of Negotiations and Transition, 1990–1994
  30. Reference U.S. Library of Congress, Country Studies (text hosted at countrystudies.us)
    South Africa – Toward Democracy
  31. Official archive Nelson Mandela Foundation
    Biography of Nelson Mandela
  32. Reference South African History Online
    South African general elections: 1994
  33. Primary Government of South Africa (gov.za) · 25 January 1994
    Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 200 of 1993 (interim constitution)
  34. Primary Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, South Africa
    Truth and Reconciliation Commission – official website
  35. Primary The Nobel Prize (nobelprize.org) · 15 October 1993
    The Nobel Peace Prize 1993 – press release (Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk)
  36. Press Al Jazeera · 29 June 2022
    Colombia Truth Commission presents final report on civil conflict
  37. Primary The Nobel Prize (nobelprize.org) · 7 October 2016
    The Nobel Peace Prize 2016 – press release (Juan Manuel Santos)
  38. Primary Government of Norway (regjeringen.no)
    Norway's engagement in the peace process in Colombia
  39. Primary PA-X Peace Agreements Database, University of Edinburgh · 24 November 2016
    Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace (Colombia – FARC-EP), 24 November 2016
  40. Primary United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia
    Mandate
  41. Research University of Notre Dame (Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies) · 8 May 2024
    Kroc Institute releases eighth report on Colombian peace agreement implementation
  42. Research Peace Accords Matrix, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame · 13 May 2026
    Colombia Barometer reports (listing, including "Ninth Year of Implementation: Trends and Keys for the Political Transition")
  43. Research Security Council Report · July 2026
    Colombia – July 2026 Monthly Forecast
  44. Reference Peace Brigades International – Colombia · 19 January 2017
    What happened with the Peace Agreement between the government and the FARC during 2016?
  45. Research International Security 22(2); publication page at CISAC, Stanford University · 1 October 1997
    Stephen J. Stedman, Spoiler Problems in Peace Processes
  46. Official archive Government of Norway (regjeringen.no)
    Norway's involvement in the peace process in the Middle East
  47. Reference The Parents Circle – Families Forum
    About the Parents Circle – Families Forum
  48. Primary United Nations (UNISPAL)
    History of the Question of Palestine
  49. Primary PA-X Peace Agreements Database, University of Edinburgh · 13 September 1993
    Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements ('Oslo Accords')