Ripken
If there any way to pursuade another faction to make peace with you, aside from the whole no contact-auto ceasefire thing (which isn't very practical when you are fighting your neighbours)?
Try to make alliances with your enemies future potential allies. If your enemy can see an alternative to war with you, he may take it. While most factions won't ally with a faction at war, some will send there own emmisaries to ask for an alliance.
If your enemy shares borders with three factions, you and an ally plus a neutral third, they may see the benefit to a peace with you.

Also if attacked and and you repulse the attack, immediatly send emmisaries to seek a ceasefire. It may have been just a rogue captian or a rogue ship attack. Also putting "Friendly\Good Defender" generals at your borders helps.
Or just wait until your King or their King dies.

Noir
[QUOTEIt is essentially a form of rushing, that puts the human player on top from the very beginning if pursuited, and turns long term planning meaningless (as we all know there's little that can knock the player out of the game if he has say 12 -15 provinces in firm control in 50 turns). That's why i advocate less troops on the map at any time (ie less profit margin) and homelands and high province rebelliousness and slow to convert religiously povinces and no upgrades and low general starting stars - rushing is more hard then and long term planning strategies/systems of organisation and decisions to pursuit say a technology become meaningful as one depends on them (and so needs to protect them until they give him the egde that he is looking for) to win the game or even survive it.
][/QUOTE]

I like the idea of the A.I. having a higher morale in 3D, but not them having more rebellions an Expert. While giving them more money to start with is easy, my other skills are nil. Though IMO some upgrades are absolutely necessary, +1 armour for spearmen and arbs, unless you are saying to start with no upgrades as in valour and command. And also not to get instant four stars MS generals.
It would be nice to make getting Valour more difficult for the human than the A.I.