After sixteen years of civil conflict, Mozambique experienced a successful transition to peace, despite numerous social, political, and economic conditions that were not conducive to peace or democracy. This essay explores the reasons for this successful outcome. It argues that, in Mozambique and elsewhere, scholars have tended to overlook the role of bilateral donors in underpinning UN-led interventions designed to broker the transition from war to peace via democratic statebuilding. In Mozambique, longstanding relationships between bilateral donors and belligerents and the ability of committed donors to provide flexible, coordinated efforts to implement the peace process were critical to the construction of a durable peace.