The Terms and Conditions of Peace. On the 193rd anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s birth. Alfred Nobel was born 193 years ago. His dynamite made mining, tunnelling and removing mountains considerably easier. Humanity soon realised that mountains weren’t the only things standing in its way. Nobel later left most of his fortune to fund prizes, including one devoted to peace. A remarkable idea: using money made partly from dynamite to honour those who thought it might sometimes be better not to blow things up. Since then, quite a few Nobel Peace Prizes have been awarded. People are still dying in Ukraine, Sudan and the Middle East. The arms industry, at least, has no difficulty believing in the future. The commitment to peace remains unwavering, of course. Especially at press conferences. War now has a communications strategy, too. An attack becomes an operation, destruction becomes an achievement, the dead become casualty figures. At least the words are safe. We negotiate peace. We negotiate arms deals too. With the latter, it’s usually easier to agree on the price and delivery date. Sometimes peace really must be defended with weapons. Even so, there’s something peculiar about stockpiling ever more dangerous ones in the name of greater security. Dynamite eventually came with detailed safety instructions. No comparably reliable manual has yet been written for human decisions. As for the consequences, a committee of inquiry can usually be appointed. --- Last year, I wrote "The Dynamite of Conscience", a longer satire available on Substack and as a podcast recording.