“The Turks Are Like Women; quidquid volunt, valde volunt.” Alexandros Mavrocordatos, William Paget, and the Preliminaries of the Karlowitz Treaty (1697/98)
“The Turks Are Like Women; quidquid volunt, valde volunt.” Alexandros Mavrocordatos, William Paget, and the Preliminaries of the Karlowitz Treaty (1697/98)

Summary/Abstract: The English Ambassador William Paget and Dragoman Alexandros Mavrocordatos’ discussions between December 1697 and January 1698 eventually led to the Treaty of Karlowitz. Yet, while the treaty has been studied in detail, the talks that produced it have never been thoroughly analysed. This paper aims to do just that and further uses these meetings to shed light on the correlation between the negotiators’ respective cultural backgrounds and the developing art of international arbitration. It argues that, although the balance of power and the details of the relevant geography were absolutely clear to both parties, they nonetheless failed to reach an early agreement because negotiating practices, personal strategies and domestic necessities contradicted the commonly accepted legal framework for negotiation.

• Details
• Contents