Powerful Peace: A Navy SEAL's Lessons on Peace from a Lifetime at War

In Powerful Peace, J. Robert DuBois takes on a crucial, unprecedented mission for a U.S. Navy SEAL: the relentless pursuit of interpersonal and international peacemaking. With gut wrenching candor and surprising moments of comedy, he narrates a personal journey through decades of conflict, its often-absurd origins, its ever-present innocent victims, and its potential solutions. Most importantly, Robert delivers practical recommendations for private citizens and policy makers alike. He offers rare context for students of international relations, community leaders, and soldiers bound for unfamiliar lands.

Powerful Peace is the unvarnished ground truth on face-to-face engagements worldwide. Robert DuBois demonstrates that prevention of hostile intent is far more necessary to genuine security than the race for tactical or technological superiority. Whether countering Soviets, terrorists, insurgents or improvised explosive devices, he observes and reports on the fundamental similarities behind hatreds. Ignorance and misunderstanding poison human potential. Dignity and respect are powerful antidotes.

Powerful Peace is the fascinating story of human beings—in war and peace and school and work and play—learning to better understand others to avoid unnecessary conflict and enrich the world. Seasoned by professional experience in more than thirty countries, Robert has plainly “been there, done that”…yet his insightful conclusions on fighting may surprise you.

J. Robert DuBois is a security advisor who was once labeled a “smart power authority” while assisting U.S., British and Iraqi forces in Baghdad. A multilingual Navy SEAL with experience in more than thirty nations, he retired from service in 2006…then headed back into Iraq and Afghanistan to support commanders facing complex threat situations. Robert has provided his “Think like the Adversary” workshop to units in combat zones, companies to include Lockheed Martin, and government entities like the National Counterterrorism Center. He is currently a staff officer on the Deputy Secretary of Defense’s four-person Senior Integration Group (SIG), and chairs the National Security Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Foundation of America. Robert’s articles on cultural awareness and security assurance have appeared in The Counterterrorist magazine and the Compass of the National Language Service Corps, among others. He is the founder of VoDuBo Consulting and author of the blog at PowerfulPeace.net.