For Valérie Rosoux, nations are not guilty of their pasts

Belgian researcher Valérie Rosoux, a political scientist and expert on international relations, ponders the purpose of official apologies in the process of reconciliation between states, or within a nation. "For some philosophers, such as Hannah Arendt and Paul Ricoeur, forgiveness is not necessarily private and individual, it can also take on political proportions. From this point of view, forgiveness is the only way to reopen memory without triggering resentment or the desire for revenge. Its objective is neither to add salt to a wound that cannot be healed, nor to rub out memories. ... Far from wiping out the past, forgiveness acts upon it. It is an attempt to modify it by giving it another meaning. ... Making official apologies cannot 'repair' damage suffered by individuals who have been affected in their flesh, or among their near and dear, but it can help relieve the pain of their wounds and in so doing give a future to memory."

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