Yuri's latest research on friendship has just been published in the Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace. In it, he illustrates how the personal friendships between German Chancellors and French Presidents influenced the formation of the modern European Union, and explains how friendships in politics can contribute to positive peace between states.
In particular, he discusses the famous friendships between Helmut Schmidt and Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (1974–1982), and Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand (1982–1995)."Both the commonalities and differences discovered shed a revealing light on the role of friendship in politics and international relations, and help us to understand the crucial role close personal relations played in the European project, establishing a degree of positive peace through personal friendship.
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Read the chapter here (closed access).
