With a half century of total war ending and something like peace breaking out politics loses its life-and-death drama.

FORBES: None Of The Above: 2012, A Transformational Political Year?

Not that we were ever that optimistic about peace breaking out in the war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray, the two rival high-def disc formats that are duking it out over which one is going to succeed the DVD, but you can forget about whatever Sony was saying in recent weeks about being open to burying the hatchet and working to develop a single standard.

ENGADGET: Sony says no to Blu-ray/HD-DVD compromise

At the same time, we have also updated sanctions authorities that allow us to target those who interfere with the peace process or the transition to democracy, and we created a ground-breaking framework for responsible investment from the United States that encourages transparency and oversight.

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With every day bringing news of more suits and counter-suits in courts around the world, there is no sign of peace breaking out in the patent wars.

BBC: Do the patent wars threaten innovation?