History, they say, is written by the victors. But in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it seems to be written in the blood of the forgotten. Here, violence has ceased to be an accident, a break in the order of things. It has become the order itself, the daily fabric of existence for millions of people. My starting point is a blood-curdling observation: the great systems that modernity has invented to protect us - the state, international law, diplomacy - are sinking before our very eyes. In the DRC, they have failed to contain what looks like a monstrous, high-tech resurgence of the law of retaliation, that old primitive rule of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth".This introduction lays the foundations for an idea that may seem radical, even disturbing. Here it is: when the state is no more than a phantom, and the army, supposed to protect, turns into a predator, then peace can no longer be negotiated in air-conditioned lounges between leaders. It must be "conquered", patiently, painfully, from below. The concept I propose you explore is that of "Heroic Peace".