The contemporary and predominant conceptions of “peace” and “peacebuilding” are associated with liberal values such as democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. Nevertheless, we live in an era of fast-spreading and deepening authoritarianism that ostensibly challenges liberal values. The entrenchment of authoritarian practices is more evident in several post-conflict settings in defiance of massive international investments in post-conflict democratisation. This chapter reviews the scholarly debates on the intersection of peace(building), liberal values, and authoritarian politics. Ultimately, the chapter aims to craft a theoretical groundwork for the empirical analysis developed in the subsequent chapters. This includes unveiling how foundational but slippery concepts such as peace, liberal peacebuilding, statebuilding, illiberal peacebuilding, and authoritarian conflict management are approached in the mainstream debates and their (in)applicability or (ir)relevance in the case of Mozambique.