Peace and War

Some of the most misguided questions ever conceived by the human brain take the form of “But how do you use nonviolence against . . . ?”

For example, fill in the blank with ISIS. How do you use nonviolence against ISIS?

Now you’re supposed to picture yourself with a knife at your throat trying to resist it nonviolently. Then you’re supposed to burst into a fit of laughter.

But how would you resist that knife violently? A superhuman feat of martial arts seems at least read more

Thirty-seven years ago, the United States Congress commissioned and published a work of fiction, an account of what life in Charlottesville, Virginia, might be like during a nuclear war. It’s contained in a longer report called The Effects of Nuclear War which came out in May of 1979. It’s widely available online.

I take an interest for 15 pretty solid reasons:

• I live in Charlottesville.
• The world still has enough nuclear weapons with which to destroy itself many times over.
• We pay a lot less attention to preventing such a disaster now than we did 37 years ago.
• More nations have nukes now and many more are close to having them.
• We know more now about the numerous nuclear accidents and misunderstandings that have nearly killed us all over the decades.
• India and Pakistan are actually at war.
• The United States and Russia are as close to war as they’ve been in 98 years.
• The United States is investing in newer and smaller, “more usable” nukes.
• This Congressional best case scenario for a U.S. city during a nuclear war is deeply disturbing.
• We now know that even a limited nuclear war would produce a nuclear winter, preventing the production of crops depicted in this tale.
• It’s not so clear to me that Charlottesville would still rank last on a list of targets for nuclear missiles. It is, after all, home to the Army JAG school, the National Ground Intelligence Center, various weapon makers, a heavily militarized university, and the CIA’s underground hideout.
• The United Nations has just set up negotiations for the coming year of a global treaty to ban nuclear weapons, and it’s worth trying to understand why.
• If we survive our possession of nuclear knowledge, we still have climate catastrophe to quickly and miraculously evade or prepare for.
• The Republican candidate for U.S. president.
• The Democratic candidate for U.S. president.

So, here are a few excerpts that I encourage you to consider:

“[This account] presents one among many possibilities, and read more

Imagine if a local business in your town invented a brand new tool that was intended to have an almost magical effect thousands of miles away. However, where the tool was kept and used locally became an area unsafe for children. Children who got near this tool tended to have increased blood pressure and increased stress hormones, lower reading skills, poorer memories, impaired auditory and speech perception, and impaired academic performance.

Most of us would find this situation at least a little read more

By Anna Polo, PRESSENZA

This post is also available in: Italian

In your website http://worldbeyondwar.org/ you say: “We strive to replace a culture of war with one of peace, in which nonviolent means of conflict resolution take the place of bloodshed”. So which role and value can nonviolence have in building such a culture?

Nonviolent action can play at least three roles here.

1. It can demonstrate a superior means of resisting tyranny that causes less suffering, is more likely to succeed, and is likely to have a longer lasting success. While most of the examples, such as Tunisia 2011, are of overcoming domestic tyranny, there is a growing list of successful nonviolent resistance actions against foreign invasion and occupation as well — and a growing understanding of how to apply the lessons of domestic nonviolence to resistance to foreign attack.

2. It can model a world that has outgrown war. Nations can lead by example, by joining international bodies and treaties, abiding by the rule of law and enforcing it. The International Criminal Court could indict a non-African. The United States which has stopped manufacturing cluster bombs could join the ban on them. Truth and reconciliation commissions could be expanded. Disarmament talks, humanitarian aid on a new scale, and the closure of foreign bases could be the change we want to see.

3. Nonviolent protest and resistance tools can be used by activists to resist bases, weapons manufacture, military recruitment, and new wars. We didn’t stop Dal Molin in Vicenza, but we don’t have to accept it. The U.S. military should not be permitted to use facilities in Sicily to murder with drones in Asia and Africa. A year’s service to one’s country should not involve participating in a military.  Public and private funds must be divested from weapons companies. Et cetera.

What can be done in your opinion to transform the culture of violence and revenge that produces so many victims read more