{"id":428,"date":"2026-05-04T22:46:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T22:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/how-my-intuition-helped-prevent-a-military-escalation-by-kees-matthijssen\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T19:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T19:46:08","slug":"how-my-intuition-helped-prevent-a-military-escalation-by-kees-matthijssen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/how-my-intuition-helped-prevent-a-military-escalation-by-kees-matthijssen\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018How my intuition helped prevent a military escalation\u2019 &#8211; Kees Matthijssen"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='full_slider_1'  class='avia-fullwidth-slider main_color avia-shadow   avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-first   container_wrap fullsize'  ><div  class='avia-slideshow av-g77he-c0ca6617467cd01c1f1519721f9c3b2c avia-slideshow-featured av_slideshow_full avia-slide-slider av-slideshow-ui av-control-default av-slideshow-manual av-loop-once av-loop-manual-endless av-default-height-applied   avia-slideshow-1' data-slideshow-options=\"{&quot;animation&quot;:&quot;slide&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:false,&quot;loop_autoplay&quot;:&quot;once&quot;,&quot;interval&quot;:5,&quot;loop_manual&quot;:&quot;manual-endless&quot;,&quot;autoplay_stopper&quot;:false,&quot;noNavigation&quot;:false,&quot;bg_slider&quot;:false,&quot;keep_padding&quot;:false,&quot;hoverpause&quot;:false,&quot;show_slide_delay&quot;:0}\"  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><ul class='avia-slideshow-inner ' style='padding-bottom: 28.666666666667%;'><li  class='avia-slideshow-slide av-g77he-c0ca6617467cd01c1f1519721f9c3b2c__0  av-single-slide slide-1 slide-odd'><div data-rel='slideshow-1' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"wp-image-466 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-466\"  src=\"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/book\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STIPPENCIRKEL-semitrans-1500x430.png\" width=\"1500\" height=\"430\" title='STIPPENCIRKEL-semitrans' alt=''  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"   \/><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><div id='after_full_slider_1'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap fullsize'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-428'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div  class='flex_column av-127zlu-09c12ac514b3b693324e6abfdffae1cc av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_slideshow_full  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  first flex_column_div  '     ><\/div>\n<div  class='flex_column av-xfcbu-a312e1fc0ec27cfc5ed4e27323da27e3 av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  flex_column_div  '     ><section  class='av_textblock_section av-mncckh82-0f0ece1107d373dd69c92918ad52e5a5 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><h1>\u2018How my intuition helped prevent a military escalation\u2019<\/h1>\n<p>Kees Matthijssen is a retired Lieutenant General of the Royal Netherlands Army. In *The Subtle Superpower*, you can read in a number of quotes and anecdotes how he still followed his intuition in a rational military environment. He also shared this story, about how he chose a slightly different approach than the orders he had received from \u2018on high\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018As UN Force Commander in Mali, I chaired the Technical Committee (Comit\u00e9 Technique de S\u00e9curit\u00e9) that was tasked with overseeing the military aspects of the peace agreement concluded in 2015 between the Malian government and the former warring parties.<\/p>\n<p>In October 2022, I was ordered to investigate a claim by the Malian government. According to them, the CMA (Coordination des Mouvements de l&#8217;Azawad, which represented the Tuareg population in northern Mali and was a party to the peace agreement) had carried out an unlawful troop movement. A large convoy of armed vehicles had been sent from Kidal to Menaka, a city of about 25,000 inhabitants in eastern Mali, which at that time was virtually surrounded by Islamic State. This caused great concern among local authorities and other actors on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>The peace agreement required parties to inform the UN mission MINUSMA in advance about troop movements. It soon became clear to me that the CMA had done so.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, a few days later, the Malian government, displeased, asked the SRSG why MINUSMA had authorized this troop movement. I was asked to put the matter on the agenda of the Technical Committee.<\/p>\n<p>I agreed, but my gut told me that this was not the best approach. Why had the government waited four days? Was there a political agenda behind it? A formal discussion in the committee could escalate the situation rather than resolve it. I did not want to jeopardize the relationship with either party.<\/p>\n<p>So I chose a different route. Instead of putting the issue on the agenda immediately, I first invited the CMA for a bilateral meeting. What I heard confirmed my feeling: there was no intention whatsoever to escalate. The CMA was deeply concerned about the security situation around Menaka and the position of the Tuareg displaced persons. They wanted to take care of their people, simply because they did not trust the Malian government to do so. It confirmed my earlier gut feeling that the CMA was not seeking a military escalation. The troop movement, I concluded, was a political signal. Not a tactical action.<\/p>\n<p>After the meeting with the CMA and bilateral talks with the other parties, I decided to continue discussions with the three parties jointly in a small circle, outside the formal CTS. I called them \u2018consultative meetings\u2019 and deliberately not a CTS, in order to keep the nature of the discussions informal for the parties as well. The difference in atmosphere was immediately noticeable. People spoke more openly and freely. After several discussions, we reached constructive agreements, and the parties involved appreciated this approach. I was glad that I had partly followed my intuition in the approach.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In his book <a href=\"https:\/\/uitgeverijkompas.nl\/product\/commandant-in-vier-missies\/\">\u2018Commandant in vier missies\u2019<\/a>\u00a0 (Commander on Four Missions) , Kees Matthijssen shares his personal and military experiences.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-331 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/book\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cover-boek-Kees-255x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"255\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/book\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cover-boek-Kees-255x300.png 255w, https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/book\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cover-boek-Kees-874x1030.png 874w, https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/book\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cover-boek-Kees-768x905.png 768w, https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/book\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cover-boek-Kees-1304x1536.png 1304w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 255px) 100vw, 255px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><div  class='flex_column av-pt91m-fb1cb2d88d1e27222b12b1cd6508bc60 av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_section  avia-builder-el-last  flex_column_div  '     ><\/div><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- close content main div --><\/div><\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mni93svs-14ae3ab4707eae5329fef8849a68e565\">\n.avia-section.av-mni93svs-14ae3ab4707eae5329fef8849a68e565{\nbackground-color:#e9eff2;\nbackground-image:unset;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div id='av_section_1'  class='avia-section av-mni93svs-14ae3ab4707eae5329fef8849a68e565 main_color avia-section-default avia-no-border-styling  avia-builder-el-5  el_after_av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-last  avia-bg-style-scroll container_wrap fullsize'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-428'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div  class='flex_column av-ipnnm-5b4a59761e977c9c5476d95c130065eb av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-6  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  first flex_column_div  '     ><\/div><div  class='flex_column av-f1l0y-16c4a72e593c2fb812e4280d94e502ce av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  flex_column_div  '     ><div  id=\"avia-magazine-1\"  class='av-magazine av-mnccjm39-e28e107a7a7c376a839339e9f42ec457  avia-builder-el-8  avia-builder-el-no-sibling   avia-builder-el-8  avia-builder-el-no-sibling ' ><div class='av-magazine-group sort_all'><article class='av-magazine-entry av-magazine-entry-id-398 av-magazine-format-standard av-magazine-type-post av-magazine-entry-1 av-magazine-entry-small av-magazine-no-thumb'  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class=\"av-magazine-content-wrap\"><header class=\"entry-content-header\" aria-label=\"Post: &#039;If it doesn&#039;t feel right, I don&#039;t do it&#039; - Mohamed el Achkar\"><time class='av-magazine-time updated'  itemprop=\"datePublished\" datetime=\"2026-05-14T12:41:36+00:00\" >May 14, 2026<\/time><h3 class='av-magazine-title entry-title '  itemprop=\"headline\" ><a href='https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/als-het-niet-goed-voelt-doe-ik-het-niet-mohamed-el-achkar\/' title='Link to: &#8216;If it doesn&#8217;t feel right, I don&#8217;t do it&#8217; &#8211; Mohamed el Achkar'>&#8216;If it doesn&#8217;t feel right, I don&#8217;t do it&#8217; &#8211; Mohamed el Achkar<\/a><\/h3><\/header><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><article class='av-magazine-entry av-magazine-entry-id-375 av-magazine-format-standard av-magazine-type-post av-magazine-entry-2 av-magazine-entry-small av-magazine-no-thumb'  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class=\"av-magazine-content-wrap\"><header class=\"entry-content-header\" aria-label=\"Post: I just knew it was right - Melek Usta\"><time class='av-magazine-time updated'  itemprop=\"datePublished\" datetime=\"2026-05-11T10:20:44+00:00\" >May 11, 2026<\/time><h3 class='av-magazine-title entry-title '  itemprop=\"headline\" ><a href='https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/i-just-knew-it-was-right-melek-usta\/' title='Link to: I just knew it was right &#8211; Melek Usta'>I just knew it was right &#8211; Melek Usta<\/a><\/h3><\/header><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><article class='av-magazine-entry av-magazine-entry-id-428 av-magazine-format-standard av-magazine-type-post av-magazine-entry-3 av-magazine-entry-small av-magazine-no-thumb'  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class=\"av-magazine-content-wrap\"><header class=\"entry-content-header\" aria-label=\"Post: \u2018How my intuition helped prevent a military escalation\u2019 - Kees Matthijssen\"><time class='av-magazine-time updated'  itemprop=\"datePublished\" datetime=\"2026-05-04T22:46:17+00:00\" >May 4, 2026<\/time><h3 class='av-magazine-title entry-title '  itemprop=\"headline\" ><a href='https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/how-my-intuition-helped-prevent-a-military-escalation-by-kees-matthijssen\/' title='Link to: \u2018How my intuition helped prevent a military escalation\u2019 &#8211; Kees Matthijssen'>\u2018How my intuition helped prevent a military escalation\u2019 &#8211; Kees Matthijssen<\/a><\/h3><\/header><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><\/div><\/div><\/div><div  class='flex_column av-7btsq-f007c29847c8af996474a3dccd848eec av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-9  el_after_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-last  flex_column_div  '     ><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-experiences"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":558,"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions\/558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benitaplesch.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}