Peace is not simply an absence of military conflict. It is a long process in which potential or actual opponents can deepen their understanding of each other and correct misperceptions or misunderstandings. If this aspect is lacking, military conflict can easily break out again.
There is another aspect to the long process of peace that is related to the post-conflict stage of peace-building. Reconstruction efforts should not be confined to merely rebuilding facilities and infrastructure. Nor should they end with the rehabilitation of political, legal or educational systems or institutions.
There is yet another more delicate dimension to the post-conflict peace-building process — the rehabilitation of wounded minds. In short, peace-building has cultural and psychological dimensions as well as political and economic aspects.
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