Sue for Peace

By Deane Barker • •

This means to ask an opponent to stop a conflict and enter peace negotiations. It’s usually used to describe when a country has no other choice.

It’s a little confusing, because in modern usage “sue” means an adversarial legal action. However, the original definition of “sue” is “make a petition for” or “plead for.”

Why I Looked It Up

I had heard it for years, and I thought it meant some international legal situation. It was used several times in The Shortest History of India which prompted me to look it up.

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