Discusses the creation and impact of borders and the pervasive tension between the new nations. It shows how catrographic, communal and political lines are not only driving countries, but that they are being replicated within, creating new visible and invisible internal frontiers.

Contents: Introduction; Peace as a political question of our time; In the time of the partitioned nations; The ineluctable logic of geopolitics; Autonomy and the requirements of minimal justice; Governing through peace accords; Two ceasefires, one story; Friends, foes and understanding; The non-dialogic world of the humanitarian; Received histories of war and peace; Epilogue: ten principles; Bibliography; Index.

'"The Politics of Dialogue" is both sharp and lyrical. On the one hand, Ranabir Samaddar puts a dagger in the heart of strategic studies; on the other, he provides a compelling poetics of peace, in the form of an eloquently articulated program for dialogic justice. His investigation of war, peace, and democracy is intelligent, nuanced, and - above all - politically astute.' Professor Michael Shapiro, University of Hawaii, USA. 'Ranabir Samaddar's new book is an extraordinary attempt at displacing the objects, the viewpoint, and the agenda of democratic politics in the "globalized" world ... His elaborated proposal to replace the easy "friend vs foe" dialectic by the difficult enterprise of mutual recognition and restorative justice has a philosophical relevance that should be recognized universally and help us resist the self-fulfilling prophecy of the "clash of civilizations".' Professor Etienne Balibar, University of Nanterre, France, and University of California, Irvine, USA