The Battle for Peace

In 2016, President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end, a war that has cost the lives of at least 220,000 Colombians and displaced close to six million people." In The Battle for Peace, Santos provides a complete account of the long and difficult road to end the conflict: the initial exploratory meetings between members of the Colombian government and the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia)); the secret negotiations; the General Agreement of 2012 that laid out a formal peace process; and the lengthy discussions that eventually led to the final agreement in 2016. In this way he demystifies the complicated peace process and provides the perspective of one of the key participants. In addition to describing the road to peace, Santos shares reflections-called "lessons"-on how to overcome obstacles in order to achieve goals that serve the common good"--