Intro to Peace Studies Midterm 3

bold terms need to have definitions memorized

Peace Movements (MEMORIZE)

• principle citizen based groups and concerned individuals

• who are mobilized to resist:

  • war

  • aspects of the war system

  • specific conflicts

  • any policy or situation that threatens peace

Social Networks and Peace Movements

Peace movements rely on different organizations and individuals all doing different activities to reach a common goal. The system of all individuals and orgs are social networks

6 Functions for Peace Movements to Fulfill

1. Educate people, share information, and create new knowledge

2. Organize people

3. Communicate opinions and values to those in power

4. demonstrate public opposition, support, and opinion

5. Organize programs and deliver services that contribute to peacefulness,

6. Hinder policy implementation, or the operation of social-economic-political systems that contribute to a lack of peace

Three Stages of the Anti-War Movement

1. Ban the bomb movement - started by atomic scientists who worked on bomb for WWII and morphed into citizen movement

2. Anti-Vietnam War Movement

3. Nuclear Freeze movement - wants unilateral nuclear disarmament and no ties across the world with movements

both in US and Great Britain. NONE ACCOMPLISHED THEIR SPECIFIC GOALS BUT ANTI-VIETNAM WAS THE CLOSEST

Ban the Bomb Movement

atomic scientists lobby for international control of nuclear weapons

• first UN resolution in 1946

• Baruch Plan (June 1946)

became less critical after nuclear agreements were made

Nuclear Freeze Movement

The Reagan effect and Randall Forsberg (created the movement)

• advocated for a mutual freeze in developemtn and deployment of nuclear weapons

• different from Ban the bomb because BTB wanted only the US to ban bombs

• mutual freeze in development and deployment of nuclear weapons

• lead to intermediate nuclear fores treaty (Withdrawal of medium-range missiles from Europe west of the Ural Mts)

Anti-Vietnam War Movement

three components

1. new left - students for a democratic society

2. old left - Trotskyist groups

3. liberal wing - SANE and Americans for demoocratic action

• end of johnson presidency

• change in vietnam policy

• expansion of conscientious objection

  • from religion-based

  • individual morality based

Peace Movements and ending Cold War

• encouraging policy engagement

• spanning the East-West divide socially

• supporting Gorbachev’s reforms and initiatives

• legitimizing new Actors, Practices, and Options

Peace Movements and ending Vietnam War

• educating the public about the war

• encouraging Nixon and Kissinger to negotiate

• legitimizing public opinion in a democratic system

• encouraging less militarization of society

3 Values of Peace Movements

1. Raise political consciousness and energize debate

2. Bring citizens into genuine democratic participation

3. Provide pathways for ordinary people to work toward a better world

6 Criticisms of Peace Movements

1. Many are reactive and negative rather than posing a practical alternative or framework

2. Some are too idealistic regarding goals

3. Many are episodic in nature, particularly those mobilized against narrowly defined issues or situations

4. Most depend at least in part on the uncertainties of public opinion

5. Many encourage partisan or polarizing political debate rather than communication and problem solving

6. Most are vulnerable to attack as being unpatriotic or counterproductive because they oppose those in power

Non-Violence and Gandhian Perspective

the struggle for political/social/economic change in ways that do not threaten violence or, to the extent possible, appear coercive “it would be better if I died than I caused the death of another”

Ideology

A code and set of rules that a person chooses to abide and live by

All ideologies justify the taking of life for certain reasons

Ideology and the Legitimization of Murder

Link between ideology and the legitimization of murder

• All ideologies justify the taking of life for certain reasons

• Most of us cannot imagine another’s death because we kill by proxy

Institution

a sociological construct, a regularized pattern of behavior for organizing or conducting sociopolitical or economic life

(Important to life and their organization)

Civilization du Dialogue

People as individuals must choose, and having chosen, must speak—building not an ideology

but a way of life

• Speak out against any institution that legitimizes killing or that stands in the way of civilization du dialogue

• Must be willing to give up, for now at least, some of their dreams

4 Key Elements of Gandhian Non-Violence

1. Understand the perspective of the others- see conflict resolution as a search for truth, study others’ point of view

2. Confront the opponent but provide a way out and accept partial solutions; do not focus on winning

3. Confront yourself- be frank about your inadequacies, assume you are not entirely correct

4. Work to build confidence and trust - conduct parallel activities to encourage cooperation, move ar a pace all can follow

Negotiation

direct communication between parties to a conflict aimed at resolving or at least managing a conflict without resorting to violence

Non-Violent Defense

nonviolent resistance (boycotts, strikes, protests, organized noncooperation with authority) can

Orange Revolution

happened in Ukraine

waved orange banners in 2004 to drive the corrupt, pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych from power

The president lied about what the results of the election were, leading to the Orange Revolution

Yanukovych stepped down as president, changed his campaign, and was re-elected

3 Variables that are important to the success of nonviolent campaigns

1. Is it a campaign?

2. Is it nonviolent or violent?

3. Was it successful, a limited success, or a failure?

Large-n Studies

research designs that analyze a large sample size (typically >25 or thousands) to identify broad, generalizable trends, often using statistical techniques like regression

Defection of Security Forces and the Anti-War Movement

Security force defections were the most significant contributor to successful nonviolent campaigns

Post-Cold War campaigns were 3 times more likely to be successful and 7 times more likelt to be partially successful than Cold War campaigns

Foreign Support for campaigns or international sanctions

International sanctions in support of non-violent campaigns were not statistically significant, although other foreign support can be helpful

• external support can encourage overreliance on foreigners and risk delegitimization

Mobilization, Decentralization, and effective medi strategy importance

very important since they

• increase pressure on the target

• raise the cost of suppression

• make backlash against government violence more likely