Ending Civil War & Establishing National Unity in Mozambique
President Joachim Chissano
Abstract
One successful strategy to create national peace is to establish a large group of peace-creating experts within the country’s security forces. These dedicated and disciplined military personnel are already charged to protect the nation against external and internal threats. There is very little added cost to train and equip security forces, or a special wing within the military, with an effective tool to defuse societal stress before it erupts into social conflict. With the Brain-Based Approach to Peace, it is not only possible but relatively easy to defuse acute societal stress, and thereby neutralize the hostility within the adversary—i.e., thereby eliminate the enmity within the enemy—and thus prevent the outbreak of war.
The power of this approach was demonstrated historically in Mozambique through the establishment of a Prevention Wing within the military in 1993. After 20 years of civil war that had ravaged his country, creating massive dislocation and poverty, President Chissano introduced the TM and advanced TM-Sidhi program first to his fellow leaders and commanders, and then throughout his national forces, integrating daily group practice into their military routine.
Almost immediately, the intense atmosphere of enmity that had long gripped the country subsided. Crime rates fell significantly, accompanied by strongly positive social and economic trends that culminated in free and open democratic elections—and a lasting state of peace.