Notes from Nov. 13 Class:
Civilian Based Defense
We may be able to give up
military weapons for the same reason we gave up bows and arrowsnot because
they are wicked and immoralbut because we have discovered a better weapons
system.
- Gene Sharp
Respond in pairs: Nonviolent actions may work against
normal or logical people, but when youre dealing with non
normal or non-logical people like terrorists or Hitler, you have to use a
method they can understand (violent means).
Major
Applications of Nonviolent Action
Social change
Social
defense
-
Environmental
Defense
Community
Defense (against drug dealing, for example)
Political
Defense (against coups and foreign invasion)
Third
party nonviolent intervention
Historical Examples
Czechoslovakia
in 1968
500,000
Soviet troops entered the country
Czech
leaders that weren't kidnapped by the Soviets issued statements denying that
the troops had been invited in
A
pirate radio network (which had been set up in case of a NATO invasion)
coordinated the resistance- clandestine congress, short general strikes and
urging the people to remain nonviolent
Soviet
troops had to be rotated out of Czechoslovakia in a few days because of
morale problems
Much
of the KGB, army, and Communist Party leadership decided to seize the
state
Arrested
Gorbachev
Took
over the media and mobilized tanks
Protestors
surrounded the House of Parliament, tanks
In
face of protests, military changed sides
The Ruhr in
Germany in 1923
French
invasion in 1923
German
president Ebert counsels "passive resistance"
German
citizens disobey the occupiers and block coal shipments
Nonviolent
resistance unravels when harsh French countermeasures are triggered by
German extremists' violence
Denmark during WWII (video)
Preparation
Needed
Citizens
trained in nonviolent tactics so they would be able to function without a
centralized leadership
Corps
of defense workers to coordinate the resistance
Stockpiling
of food, fuel and other essentials
Contingency
plans to relocate some of the population to rural areas where control would
be more difficult
Practice
drills
Mutual
nonviolent defense treaties could be implemented between nations to help
out with international boycotts and embargoes
Decentralize
industries
Easier
in smaller countries
Foundation
connected with citizens developing nonviolent strategy and tactics in
campaigns for social change
One
component of a more comprehensive security system
Must decide
what it is about your society that you want to defend (economic,
social, political, ideological and ecological)
Civilian-Based
Defense in the U.S.?
U.S.
Americans would first need a narrower definition of national
security
Train
civilians to report possible terrorist acts.
Train
civilians to resist terrorists if they do take over an airplane,
train, or bus using the skills of noncooperation and appropriate
force.
How
to encourage this without promoting vigilante-style law enforcement
using lethal weapons?
Transarmament,
alongside military defense
In
February 1991 the Lithuanian Supreme Council (parliament) voted to
make nonviolent noncooperation their first line of defense in case
of an intensified Soviet occupation
In
1986 the Swedish parliament unanimously voted for the inclusion of a
small nonviolent resistance component in their "total
defense" policy
China,
Bolivia and Costa Rica
[In a
nonviolent campaign] how do you get enough people involved to make a
difference?