If a diplomatic cocktail party lasts two hours, does it equal the duration of peace? Or are there less simplistic conceptualizations of ‘peace’ and ‘time’ for the theorization of diplomatic practices? This article draws on a concept of temporality based on an irreversible before/after distinction, and combines it with the modern systems theoretical premise that every event within the diplomatic system occurs under the medium of peace, finding that: (a) peace is not a state of affairs, but a medium of communication; (b) peace has no chronometric duration, but it is temporally minimal, vanishing as soon as it appears; (c) peace needs constant reproduction, i.e. the system of diplomacy regenerates itself by continuously triggering further peace-mediated events; and (d) peace is both negative and positive, as it denotes a restraint of violent capacities but needs active communication. These insights offer a universal concept of ‘peace’ that is abstract enough to cover every interpolity tie. They also suggest further research opportunities, including into what the rapid acceleration of society means for the proliferation of ever-quicker, ever-more-trivial diplomatic practices.

中文翻译：

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和平需要不断复制：外交制度的暂时性

如果外交鸡尾酒会持续两个小时，是否等于和平的持续时间？或者对于外交实践的理论化来说，是否存在不那么简单的“和平”和“时间”概念？本文借鉴基于不可逆转的前后区分的时间性概念，并将其与外交体系内的每一个事件都在和平媒介下发生的现代体系理论前提相结合，发现：事态，而是沟通的媒介；(b) 和平没有计时的持续时间，但它在时间上是最小的，一旦出现就消失了；(c) 和平需要不断再生，即外交体系通过不断引发进一步的和平调解事件来自我更新；(d) 和平既是消极的，也是积极的，因为它意味着对暴力能力的限制，但需要积极的沟通。这些见解提供了一个普遍的“和平”概念，它足够抽象，足以涵盖所有国际政治关系。他们还提出了进一步的研究机会，包括社会的快速发展对于越来越快、越来越琐碎的外交实践的扩散意味着什么。