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Powerful Peace: A Navy SEAL’s Lessons on Peace from a Lifetime of War
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First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 29, 2012
Powerful Peace: A Navy SEAL’s Lessons on Peace from a Lifetime of War isn’t just the latest hipster-friendly treatise on pacifism or the Vietnam-era cliché about a war being thrown and nobody attending. Rather, DuBois’s contribution to the peacemaking discourse is a deeply personal exposition on the development and proper application of the “smart power” concept that was first described by Harvard professor Joseph Nye two decades ago as a “combination of hard and soft power in effective ways.” Referred to in the book as ‘applied smart power,’ or ASP, DuBois describes the proper application of Nye’s concept as “a grassroots approach for local as well as global peacemaking,” and asks, “Without balancing closer relationships, what hope is there for improved global engagement? Like parents who overcome differences to raise a healthy family, macro-level, external conflict reduction rests on the building blocks of effective internal relationships. Ultimately, as the old hymn goes, ‘Let there be peace on earth…and let it begin with me.’”
THE BULK OF Powerful Peace consists of such introspective musings, interspersed with real life experiences and lessons that the author has gained, often at great cost, from his career as a Navy special operator. However, though the message is often simple (and in some cases, such as Ch. 37 ‘Tolerance,’ simplistic), it would be wrong to assume that DuBois’s approach consists entirely of promoting naïve dovishness in the face of threat and danger. The fifth of the book’s 48 short chapters opens with a quote from another retired SEAL, who responded to the author’s call for dialogue with enemies by saying, “I tried to talk to them, but they couldn’t hear me over their RPGs” – a counterpoint DuBois uses to illustrate the role of violence as a necessary component of ASP. “Peacemaking is not the fluffy stuff of rainbows and unicorns,” he writes. “Genuine conflict reduction requires the capacity and willingness to strike.”
However, the author complements this with the oft-repeated warning that using the “hammer” of force or violence when the problem being dealt with is something other than a nail can cause more problems and create more enemies than it prevents. As such, DuBois posits, a key part of conflict resolution and reduction is possession of “determined restraint and the guts to stare straight into the face of hate and then choose a reasoned response.” In this vein, understanding and engaging the human terrain in areas of operation is a necessity, as is putting a human face on the cost of conflict. ”Red [enemy] actors,” he writes, “are simply former Green citizens [neutral actors or part of the general population] who have crossed into our enemy’s camp. (In some cases, an individual is literally Green by day and Red by night.) …This crossing over is always caused by some perceived need or grievance, whether due to economic constraints or a desire for revenge. If we are able to effectively address these, therefore, we stand to gain. Every increase to the ranks of Green forces reduces the Red by one.”
[...]
Though Powerful Peace is presented to some degree as a guidebook, DuBois is clearly a man who is himself very much still on a journey. As such, the book is less a road map than it is a case of deep introspection, putting on display the thoughts and feelings of a person who understands the cost of war from the 30,000 foot view down to the granular human level. DuBois’s thoughts and anecdotes serve more as conversation starters than as homilies, but it is difficult to come away from this engaging text with the conclusion that the author would consider simply starting such a conversation to be anything other than a great success.
Read the full review here.
THE BULK OF Powerful Peace consists of such introspective musings, interspersed with real life experiences and lessons that the author has gained, often at great cost, from his career as a Navy special operator. However, though the message is often simple (and in some cases, such as Ch. 37 ‘Tolerance,’ simplistic), it would be wrong to assume that DuBois’s approach consists entirely of promoting naïve dovishness in the face of threat and danger. The fifth of the book’s 48 short chapters opens with a quote from another retired SEAL, who responded to the author’s call for dialogue with enemies by saying, “I tried to talk to them, but they couldn’t hear me over their RPGs” – a counterpoint DuBois uses to illustrate the role of violence as a necessary component of ASP. “Peacemaking is not the fluffy stuff of rainbows and unicorns,” he writes. “Genuine conflict reduction requires the capacity and willingness to strike.”
However, the author complements this with the oft-repeated warning that using the “hammer” of force or violence when the problem being dealt with is something other than a nail can cause more problems and create more enemies than it prevents. As such, DuBois posits, a key part of conflict resolution and reduction is possession of “determined restraint and the guts to stare straight into the face of hate and then choose a reasoned response.” In this vein, understanding and engaging the human terrain in areas of operation is a necessity, as is putting a human face on the cost of conflict. ”Red [enemy] actors,” he writes, “are simply former Green citizens [neutral actors or part of the general population] who have crossed into our enemy’s camp. (In some cases, an individual is literally Green by day and Red by night.) …This crossing over is always caused by some perceived need or grievance, whether due to economic constraints or a desire for revenge. If we are able to effectively address these, therefore, we stand to gain. Every increase to the ranks of Green forces reduces the Red by one.”
[...]
Though Powerful Peace is presented to some degree as a guidebook, DuBois is clearly a man who is himself very much still on a journey. As such, the book is less a road map than it is a case of deep introspection, putting on display the thoughts and feelings of a person who understands the cost of war from the 30,000 foot view down to the granular human level. DuBois’s thoughts and anecdotes serve more as conversation starters than as homilies, but it is difficult to come away from this engaging text with the conclusion that the author would consider simply starting such a conversation to be anything other than a great success.
Read the full review here.
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August 26, 2012I enjoyed this book immensely! ;)
January 31, 2018
Powerful Peace is the book that every politicians or decisions-making persons in every governments and armies should read. Rob DuBois talk with the credibility of a man that knows the battlefield and that is one of the most trained and skilled warrior of the globe. His message for peace is that more relevant for it!
The book contains a lot of true life examples about how our act and decision can greatly influence the outcome of a potentially conflicted situation.
The book contains a lot of true life examples about how our act and decision can greatly influence the outcome of a potentially conflicted situation.
August 14, 2015
Teddy Roosevelt said "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Ronald Reagan believed in "Peace through Strength." Sting penned a song "If the Russians Love their Children Too." Rob takes those basic ideas, which are really just platitudes when they stand by themselves, and makes them real. Think of Roosevelt, Reagan and Sting as the policy authors, and Rob DuBois as the author of the policy implementation guide.
I work in the defense industry and I can honestly say that reading Rob's book will impact how I approach my work. It will also impact how I absorb the news from conflict zones, which will in turn impact how I approach my work. This book is a PRIMARY information resource, and not yet another secondary information resource run through a filter with unknown biases.
After reading this I asked myself, "If I were the President, would I want Rob advising my Secretary of Defense, or my Secretary of State?" I think he would be the right guy to get both of those Secretaries into the same room to make them work together in a complementary fashion that we seldom see anymore.
I work in the defense industry and I can honestly say that reading Rob's book will impact how I approach my work. It will also impact how I absorb the news from conflict zones, which will in turn impact how I approach my work. This book is a PRIMARY information resource, and not yet another secondary information resource run through a filter with unknown biases.
After reading this I asked myself, "If I were the President, would I want Rob advising my Secretary of Defense, or my Secretary of State?" I think he would be the right guy to get both of those Secretaries into the same room to make them work together in a complementary fashion that we seldom see anymore.
June 7, 2016
There are very few people in this world who understand that, in both war and peace, the key terrain is the five and a half inches between the left and right ears and the most powerful weapon the gray matter that lies within it. Like most who have smelled the cordite, Rob DuBois desires peace more than most, but understands the necessity of the use of force - only as a last resort. This book has many, highly valuable insights, lessons, and wisdom gained the hard way. But you don't have to be a warfighter to understand it, nor to learn something from it for your own purposes, because of DuBois' simple, direct and conversational prose. I have quoted it in my own book, Travels with Harley - Journeys in Search of Personal and National Identity. If you're looking to gain an understanding of war and peace and the many issues of our day that surround it in our media, there aren't many books out there that can deliver as this one does. Powerful Peace is powerful writing!
February 24, 2015
Rob wrote an incredibly encouraging, simple book to spread peace in our starved world. Everyone can do this and spread peace throughout.
Rob's book is refreshing in that he expresses the need of force at times but gives the opportunity to make peace before getting to the point of having to use force. I'm so proud to call Rob, friend! I definitely recommend this book to all. Maybe we can make this world better for our kids.
Rob's book is refreshing in that he expresses the need of force at times but gives the opportunity to make peace before getting to the point of having to use force. I'm so proud to call Rob, friend! I definitely recommend this book to all. Maybe we can make this world better for our kids.
May 20, 2013
Great book- it makes you challenge your own thinking with each step. I agree we are all alike- we want peace, security, and to provide for our families. Having loved throughout the world- he is right on.
January 26, 2014
A very interesting book, it reminded me of the Robert Humphrey book "Values for a New Millennium". Mr. Humphrey also stressed looking at the humanity of the problem.
I wish the author had ended with a bit more of a specific call to action.
I wish the author had ended with a bit more of a specific call to action.
July 10, 2013
Very good book. Not what I expected. It was more about winning peace then winning war.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews