Nonviolence Versus Terrorism

Introduction -

   The terrorist attacks of 11 September 200 1 were an enormous setback for the cause of nonviolence. They provided a stimulus and ostensible justification for a spiral of violence in which nonviolent alternatives become marginalised. Nonviolence offers numerous ways to oppose and prevent terrorism, but such responses are totally at odds with the way government leaders conceive the world.

A Nonviolent Response to September 11

Introduction -

    Darkness cannot drive out darkness
    Only light can do that.
    Hate cannot drive out hate;
    Only love can do that.
    Hate multiplies toughness
    In a descending spiral of destruction...
    The chain reaction of evil -
    Hate begetting hate,
    Wars producing more wars-
    Must be broken,
    Or we shall be plunged into
    The direction of annihilation.
                           Martin Luther King, Jr.

    What happened on Sept 11 to the American people, and especially to New Yorkers and their foreign visitors, was a crime of ineffable proportions. No moral code or religious teaching, including the prescripts of the Qur'an and the traditions of the Prophet (the Hadith), allows for the wanton slaughter of innocent people. Such acts of terror rightly deserve universal condemnation, whether committed deliberately and directly as happened in America, or perpetrated indirectly through means known to be causing death and terror disproportionate to a just end - for example, what has happened in the case of the economic sanctions against Iraq. One act of terror, as the above words of Martin Luther King, Jr. remind us, does not justify the retaliation of another act of terror. Not only is such a response immoral but it does not make good political sense. In the words of UN Secretary General Koffi Annan, 'Cool reason and judgement are more necessary now than ever' (SBS, 2001, 26 Oct).

A Nonkilling Korea: From Cold-War Confrontation to Peaceful Coexistence

Introduction -

Forgiveness as a Nonviolent Security Policy: An Analysis of Thai Prime Ministerial Order 66/23

Introduction -

    Imagine I

    Somyos was a merchant selling things at the Penang Market in Bangkok. Money earned from his shop was
spent on raising his three little children, Gap, Book and Boom. But like many Bangkokians, he was also interested in politics and democracy in Thai society. He was on the street in May 1992 with hundreds of thousands of people demanding in elected prime minister to replace the incumbent General Suchinda Kraprayoon, one of the February 23, 1991 coup makers who put an end to an elected government.  It was said that General Suchinda accepted the Premier position in tears in order to 'save the country' despite his earlier promise not to become involved in any government position.  On May 18 Somyos witnessed the violence and cruelty demonstrators suffered at the hands of security forces unleashed upon the city to 'restore order' by the then government.

Rawls and the Limits of Nonviolent Civil Disobedience

Introduction -

   One of the most influential sources of about civil disobedience remains the American philosopher John Rawls.  In a major attempt to update liberal thought, he shifted attention from traditional utilitarian concerns to a neo-Kantian resurrection of contract theory. Rawls' A Theory of Justice, which appeared in 1971, is widely considered to be the most significant philosophical contribution to the reworking of liberalism (Rosenblum, 1989, p. 1; Sandel, 1984, p. 8). In the context of this rethinking, Rawls also articulated a theory of civil disobedience. Here too, Rawls' contribution is deemed path breaking. Hugo Adam Bedau (1991) considers A Theory of Justice, 'the most influential contemporary philosophical discussion on civil disobedience' (p.4), a text which has, through its hegemonic position, framed much of the subsequent discussion on the subject.

Bang! Bang! Ka-ching! War Profits from the Toy Box

Introduction -

    With the world plunging once more into war mode, toy manufacturers who produce war toys can expect their sales to increase as often happens in times of escalated global combat and its accompanied military rhetoric (Bedell, 1990). They can take comfort too that apologists for war toys are plentiful and have argued against connections between war toys and violence.

Gandhian Nonviolence and the Salt March

Introduction -

    The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) recently screened an excellent television series dealing with nonviolent movements in the last century. A Force More Powerful commenced with Gandhi's Salt March as its first case study. This section of the series focussed on Gandhi, the shrewd political strategist, and was a fine analysis of the great 1930 political campaign, arguably the most significant campaign Grandhi ever led.  But there was much more to this event, more about Gandhi the practitioner of principled (as opposed to pragmatic) nonviolence - the Grandhi that can speak to those of us not engaged in the process of trying to dismantle a colonial empire - that was left out.

Creating a 'Ripe Moment' in the Burmese Conflict through Nonviolent Action

Introduction -

   Burma is a divided society, horizontally and vertically.  Firstly, reflecting the legacy of British colonial rule, the country contains within its national boundaries a majority of Burmans (approximately 60 % of the population), along with numerous ethnic minorities including the Karens, Shans, Kachins, Mons, Karennis, Chins, Was and Rohingyas, who are called the 'ethnic nationalities' (Burma Fund, 1999). While the Burmans occupy the country's central plain, the ethnic nationalities largely inhabit the mountainous border areas and have spread into neighbouring Thailand, China, Laos, Bangladesh and India. Since gaining independence in 1948, Burma has faced the uphill task of maintaining the integrity of a new state. Its failure to achieve this primary goal by political means has resulted in more than five decades of armed insurgencies.

Building the Road as We Walk It: Peacebuilding as Principled and Revolutionary Nonviolent Praxis

Introduction -

    The end of the cold war and the rupture of the bi-polar system have produced a rise in intra-state conflicts. Such conflicts are characterised by structural injustice and social inequity, are increasingly racial/ethnic struggles, and are placed in the context of historical wrongs stretching back decades if not centuries. Deep ethnic division, a culture of fear and suspicion, and immense physical, infrastructural and psychological damage result. For many societies, the process of beginning the recovery and reconstruction business is akin to starting from zero. The devastation wrought by years of inter-communal violence impacts upon all aspects of life. This presents formidable challenges to ....

Jeju, Island of Peace in Cold-War Northeast Asia

Introduction -

    Peace is waves.
    waves breaking, alive
    and beneath those waves
    swim fish of every kind, alive.
            Ko Un,"Song of Peace from Jeju Island"

    One of the most promising but little known political evolutions in Northeast Asia is the emergence of the
Korean island of Jeju as an "Island of Peace.'" Located some eighty kilometres south of the mainland, Jeju has the opportunity of becoming a catalyst for the long overdue transition from Cold-War confrontation to peaceful co-existence in this part of the world. The concept of Jeju as an Island of Peace, which is supported by both the provincial and the national governments, builds upon the island's unique culture and location, as well as on more than a decade of specific diplomatic initiatives. Ever since the early 1990s, Jeju has hosted a series of high-profile political meetings at crucial historical junctures. To name just two examples: a key summit was held in 1991 between presidents Mikhail Gorbachev and Roh Tae- Woo. And in 1996 Bill Clinton met in Jeju with Roh's successor, Kim Young-Sam.