Quotable Quote
"Who overcomes by force hath overcome but
half his foe"
- John Milton, poet (1608-1674)
A Good Book
Easwaran, Eknath. 1984. Nonviolent Soldier
of Islam. Badshah Khan, a Man to Match His
Mountains. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press
A Future Without War
Believe in it.
Envision it.
Work for it.
And we will achieve it.
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Nonviolence: Powerful and Necessary
"War will exist until that distant day
when the conscientious objector enjoys the
same reputation and prestige that the warrior
does today." - John F. Kennedy, 35th US
president (1961-1963)
A Future Without War works to speed the
arrival of that "distant day" to which the
U.S. President referred. The means used,
moreover, must reflect the end to be
achieved-in other words, the means must be
nonviolent.
The Indian
lawyer, philosopher, and activist
Mohandas K. Gandhi was indisputably the
modern age's greatest theorist and
practitioner of nonviolence. He divided his
efforts, in South Africa and later in India,
into two different but complimentary
programs. The more familiar one he called
Obstructive Program (OP): the use of civil
disobedience (or as he called it, satyagraha)
as a means to achieve social change by
converting one's opponents into cooperators
and maybe even friends.
The less familiar he called Constructive
Program (CP): engaging his followers in
educational efforts and socially constructive
works that served several functions, among
them that the results of the constructive
programs would be the backbone of the better
future he envisioned. AFWW's nine
cornerstones, for example, embrace a wide
range of such CPs.
For those unfamiliar with how a nonviolent
approach works, a fundamental needs to be
clear from the outset: nonviolence is not a
tool of the weak. Not the choice of those
afraid to fight. Not the way of passive
resistance. On the contrary, to be a
nonviolent warrior or practitioner requires
enormous courage. One must be willing to face
an opponent-even one bent on doing you
physical harm-unarmed and without animosity.
Here is how Gandhi put it:
"There is hope for a violent man to be
some day nonviolent, but there is none for a
coward." - Mohandas K. Gandhi
This newsletter:
- informs readers about a quick, concise
introduction to the subject as practiced by
Gandhi.
- offers an essay on why historical and
contemporary nonviolence movements, like
those of Jesus, Buddha, U.S.
suffragists,
Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.,
have not
yet transformed the world: because they were
"before their time."
- introduces other exciting and informative
NV practitioners, like Abdul Ghaffar Khan
(the "Muslim Gandhi") and Leymah Gbowee
(a
woman who used NV to win a peace treaty for
the people of Liberia).
- recommends a review paper on nonviolent
resistance, an academic approach which
provides relevant citations.
- lists selected films illustrating
nonviolent movements and their strategies.
- provides links to organizations teaching
and using nonviolence.
- highlights websites having information
about nonviolent efforts around the globe.
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Hope or Terror?
Gandhi and the Other 9/11
In this concise, clear, compact
42-page-pamphlet, Professor Michael
N.Nagler
introduces key events in Gandhi's life,
relevant aspects of Gandhi's philosophy, the
working nature of Satyagraha, the ingredients
for successful use of Satyagraha, when it
should NOT be used, contemporary examples of
successful application, and suggestions for
forward movement.
Nagler teaches nonviolence at the University
of California, Berkeley and is co-founder of
the Metta Center, devoted to nonviolent
conflict resolution. To obtain copies for a
suggested donation of $5.00 U.S. go to the
Metta
center.
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Nonviolence
If Nonviolence is so Powerful, Why Hasn't
it Succeeded in Transforming our Dominator
Cultures into Peaceful and Egalitarian
Ones?
In an essay by Judith Hand entitled
"Until
now, Nonviolence Movements Were 'Before Their
Time,'" the works of suffragist Alice
Paul,
Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Abdul Gaffar
Khan are
set into historical context.
Two barriers are then suggested as the
primary reasons why those movements, and many
others which clearly made astonishing forward
progress, have not yet resulted in the
transformation of our violent, dominator
systems of government:
- the dominant cultures of the day had not
yet recognized the pivotal role that the
natural allies of nonviolence--women--need to
play in such movements and especially in the
governing that comes afterward, and
- the world's people were not yet ready to
listen to the voices of nonviolence because
the world was not yet "full," nor were humans
facing global catastrophes.
Finally, six historical factors going back
rough 700 years are introduced that, along
with the two changes featured in the essay,
make our time, the early 21st century,
extraordinarily different from all preceding
historical moments ... factors that make our
time RIGHT, at last, for nonviolent movements
to achieve the social transformation they
passionately desire. Read
the full essay
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Think It Can't Happen?
 Some Things for Skeptics to Consider
Skeptics feel nonviolence can't work for a
variety of reasons. In a great many cases
it's because they're unaware of successful
applications. The media do not place much
emphasis on nonviolent successes. A
remarkable contemporary example comes out of
Liberia, a small country in West Africa.
Liberia isn't a "natural" African nation.
It was formed when freed slaves from America
returned to Africa at the end of the U.S.
civil war. This movement didn't last very
long, but it resulted in a country with a
constitution, a democracy, and a name.
Over time, Liberia degenerated into a
tyrannical dictatorship, most recently under
the presidency of Charles Taylor. In
1999, a
"second civil war" broke out. This set off
the barbaric use of rape, mutilation, and
murder, something seen elsewhere in Africa as
well. After eight years of this mayhem,
social activist Leymah Gbowee had a dream
one
night and when she awoke, she decided to call
the women of her church together to pray for
the end of the war.
By the end of the meeting the women had
pretty much decided that something more than
prayer was necessary. They decided to begin a
campaign, a nonviolent campaign, in which
they would seek to have an audience with
Taylor, to convince him to join in peace
negotiations. They would wear white T-shirts
and turbans, they would stake out the road
along which his caravan drove each day, and
they would stake out the market. They would
not give up until Taylor conceded to see
them.
Then a woman stood up to say that, the
fact was, she wasn't a Christian. She was a
Muslim, and she knew a lot of Muslim women
who felt exactly the same way. Women of the
two faiths joined together and began their
"action."
An inspiring film entitled "Pray the Devil
Back to Hell," documents how the story worked
out, including how the women of Liberia held
their men hostage until a peace agreement was
signed. Los Angeles Times columnist Kenneth
Turan reviewed the film: "Making peace, a
T-shirt at a time." Follow the links provided
to get to the Movie
site, which also has great music.
That's not the end of the story. When it
came time for the next election, the women of
Liberia helped elect Harvard Educated Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf as the first elected women
head of state on the African continent.
At this time (2009), Johnson-Sirleaf and
Liberia's men and women struggle to build on
this wonderful transformation in a land that
is bitterly poor and crippled with a
debilitating history of strife. But clearly,
a determined and savvy application of
nonviolence could cut through a nasty,
brutal, violent civil war even in this day
and age.
Another doubt skeptics will pose about the
possible success of nonviolence is to say
that Islamic radicals and terrorists cannot
be reached by this technique. "These men are
violent, their religion is violent, we can
never reach them," is a protest heard many
times.
In the essay above by Judith Hand, "Until
now, nonviolent movements have been 'before
their time," you will find more information
about the
importance of the nonviolent movement of a
devout Muslim man, Abhul Gaffer Khan, a
contemporary and follower of Gandhi.
Born in the Pashtun region of what is now
Pakistan, he was a man born into a Muslim
religion and a culture of extreme male
machismo and violent revenge. Passionately
committed to nonviolence, he gathered a
following of some 100,000 nonviolent Muslim
warriors. The book Nonviolent Soldier of
Islam. Badshah Khan, a Man to Match His
Mountains is a fine exploration of his life,
his movement, and the turbulent history of
Northern India under the British.
For reasons having to do with their fear
of Russia, the British engaged in especially
brutal suppression of the Pashtuns in this
region of what was then northern India.
Khan's followers maintained their nonviolent
resistance in the face of this vicious
onslaught. (Eknath Easwaran. 1984.
Nonviolent
Soldier of Islam. Badshah Khan, a Man to
Match His Mountains. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri
Press.)
Clearly the impediment for the Muslim
world isn't Islam itself, for Khan was a
profoundly devout man. Nor is a long cultural
history of violence an insurmountable
barrier.
Contemporary Muslims need to find their
footing in traditions of nonviolence, and
when its leaders do, and other world leaders
do so as well, we are all fully capable of
using the power of nonviolent transformation.
See also a film documentary: "The Frontier
Gandhi: Badshah Khan, a Torch for Peace" by
writer and filmmaker T.C. McLuhan
(daughter
of Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian media
theorist). McLuhan spent 21 years to bring
this story to the screen. A film review can
be found at Sunday October 19, 2008 L.A.
Times by Allan M. Jalon. "A
Gandhi-like force for peace."
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Eggheads
Eggheads Have Insights About Nonviolent
Revolutions
A large and growing body of academic
literature examines the ins and outs of
nonviolence movements. A useful starting
place is an article by Maria Stephan and
Erica Chenoweth, "Why nonviolent
resistance
works. The strategic logic of nonviolent
conflict."
The paper compares the outcomes of 323
nonviolent and violent resistance campaigns.
It examines and compares resistance movements
in Southeast Asia: East Timor, the
Philippines, and Burma. The summary indicates
factors that correlate with success and
factors that don't. Many useful citations and
footnotes.
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Recommended Films
Some outstanding films showcase nonviolence
as an engine of social transformation. The
starred films, in the opinion of AFWW, should
be considered essential viewing for serious
practitioners of satyagraha.
A Force More Powerful - 154 minutes.
This fascinating PBS series of six
documentaries focuses on strategies and
tactics used by specific nonviolent movements
to successfully battle entrenched regimes and
military forces. These people had no desire
to be passive or to simply plead and wait:
they wanted to overturn the rulers or the
laws that subjugated them, and they found a
way. The series recounts Gandhi's civil
disobedient Salt March; the sit-ins and
boycotts that desegregated downtown
Nashville, Tennessee; the nonviolent campaign
against apartheid in South Africa; Danish
resistance to the Nazis in World War II; the
rise of Solidarity in Poland; and the
momentous victory for democracy in Chile. Can
be purchased at the Force More
Powerful website.*
Gandhi - a reasonably accurate
Richard
Attenborough film starring Ben
Kingsley
that
is a primer on the power of the techniques
developed by Gandhi, first in South Africa
and then during many years as he worked to
free India from British control.*
Iron Jawed Angels - The film starring
as the U.S. suffragist
Alice
Paul shows how the application of aggressive
nonviolence was used by women, Paul and her
colleague Lucy Burns and their allies, to
secure in the U.S. Constitution the right for
women to vote.*
Pray the Devil Back to Hell - an
Abigail Disney film documents how Christian
and Muslim women of Liberia mobilized for
peace, and eventually held their men hostage
until a peace agreement was signed. (for
further information, see the entry above,
"Think It Can't Happen?")
The Frontier Gandhi: Badshah Khan, a Torch
for Peace - By writer and filmmaker T.C.
McLuhan. Documents the struggles of this
Muslim leader in what is now Pakistan to
mobilize historically violence-prone Pashtun
men into powerful warriors for nonviolence.
(for further information see the entry above,
"Think It Can't Happen?")
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A World of Info
A World of Information at Your
Fingertips
The Internet is one of six innovations or
historical events AFWW considers precursors
that make our moment in history ripe for the
abolition of war. The IN makes virtually
instantaneous and global communication
available to us as individuals, as allies,
and as coalitions, and it is a vast library
of information to dispel ignorance and
enlighten our path forward. The following are
a few of many websites that provide
information regarding nonviolence: lists of
organizations, sources of information, and so on.
AFWW PNCR (Promote Nonviolent Conflict
Resolution) links:
afww.org/links_pncr.html
Lists selected organizations that focus
primarily or substantially on promoting
nonviolent conflict resolution and nonviolent
communication and living
Better World Links:
betterworldlinks.org/
Offers over 30,000 well-organized links
addressing subjects focused on how to leave
our children a world worth living in; in the
spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer,
Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Petra
Kelly and the Dalai Lama.
International Center on Nonviolent
Conflict:
nonviolent-conflict.org/
Circulates a daily selective digest of world
news related to past, present and potential
nonviolent conflicts, including active
civilian-based struggles against oppressive
regimes, nonviolent resistance, political and
social dissidence, and the use of nonviolent
tactics in a variety of causes. They also
include stories that help readers glimpse the
larger context of a conflict and that reflect
on past historical struggles. A link on their
home page will allow you to sign up for the
newsletter.
The Global Directory of Peace Studies
and Conflict Resolution Programs:
peacejusticestudies.org/globaldirectory/
A joint project of the Peace and Justice
Studies Association and the International
Peace Research Association Foundation, this
directory can be purchased here. It is an
annotated guide to peace studies and conflict
resolution programs at colleges and
universities worldwide. This edition profiles
over 450 undergraduate, Master's and Doctoral
programs and concentrations in 40 countries
and 38 U.S. states. Entries describe the
program's philosophy and goals, examples of
course offerings and requirements, degrees
and certificates offered, and complete
contact information, including links to email
and websites.
Global Peace Index:
visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/rankings/2008/
The table provides GPI rankings for 140
countries analyzed in 2008 and 121 countries
analyzed in 2007, as well as year-on-year
comparison. Countries most at peace are
ranked first. You can click on a country to
see the detail of its peace indicators and
drivers. In 2008, Iceland ranked most
peaceful followed by Denmark and Norway. The
United States ranked 97. Iraq sat on the
bottom of the list.
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