I've been musing on the Peace of Westphalia (1648). After 30 years of brutal war dominated by mercenaries and foreign interventions, European states established sovereignty as the core principle of continental security. It remains the nominal basis of international affairs today. Yet much as the rise of gunpowder and large armies forced the mutual need to recognize sovereignty, the rise of the internet and #bitcoin    is challenging our understanding of sovereignty in a way not seen since those terrible decades centuries ago. I worry that the process will not be more peaceful this time around.