Why has the successful use of nonviolent power not been more widely appreciated?
Because the news and entertainment media, as well as most publishers, editors and opinion leaders, focus first on violent incidents in what they broadcast, write and talk about. That fosters the mistaken impression that history-making political changes are usually accompanied by violence. And that in turns reinforces the belief that violence is the ultimate and even exclusive form of power, in conflicts between dictators, invaders or oppressors and those whom they try to victimize. Yet the truth is that violent rulers and even military forces have been neutralized and overcome through the use of strategic nonviolent action. Q. Have the foreign policies and diplomacy of the United States and other major powers taken seriously the potential of nonviolent conflict to promote democracy and human rights by overturning repressive regimes? A: Not until very recently. A good example was how the West dealt with Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990’s. The U.S. used diplomacy to end his aggression in B
Related Questions
- Does nonviolent power work only against humane opponents or only in a society that allows some degree of political space for organizing?
- Why has the successful use of nonviolent strategies to take power not been more widely appreciated?
- Why has the successful use of nonviolent power not been more widely appreciated?
