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Not all conflicts get settled. Some just fade away.

Argentina has never relinquished its claim to the Falkland Islands.

The border dispute that caused the India-China war of 1962 continues to be disputed.

Morocco has retained the western Sahara territory despite any number of international condemnations.

Even the mighty United States lived with stalemate in Cold War Europe for 45 years — and continues to live with stalemate in the Korean peninsula.

It is the act of peacemaking around a conference table that is unusual: old enemies negotiating their differences, signing a treaty, exchanging ambassadors. How often does that happen? And how long do such treaties last?

If anything, formally negotiated peaces are rarer than decisive ...