Amazon.com: Power and Struggle (Politics of Nonviolent Action, Part 1): Gene Sharp
As a military officer I studied and implemented violence for twenty-six years. Thanks to the movie "Friendly Persuasion" and my introduction to Quakers, I began to wonder if there wasn't a better way. That eventually brought me to Gene Sharp's book.
The first volume is rather short and summarizes. It is well worth the read. The second volume is rather dull from a reading standpoint but very necessary. Probably only an academe or tactician could really get enthused about it. The third volume is a good read. I found it very informative and useful.
Before reading this book, my answer to peaceniks would have been that the only true peace was that of the battlefield -- when everything is quiet and dead. I imaged nonviolence as capitulation. Now I see it as conflict by other means: a means of struggle requiring high courage, strict discipline, and thoughtful strategy.
I believe that two conditions are required for nonviolence to succeed: 1) there must be sufficient information flow between the populations of the nonviolent group and the aggressor group, and 2) some proportion of the aggressor group must be able to identify with members of the nonviolent group. If news of the struggle never circulates, bureaucracy can structure violence to continue indefinitely; if the aggressors see others as less than animals, the violence will also continue without end.
In violent struggle at least 50% of the participants lose. Sometimes the costs are so high that everybody loses. In nonviolent struggle, at most 50% of the participants lose and often not so severely. Sometimes both sides seem to come out ahead.
Emotionally, I'm still very much in touch with the hubris of violence. Intellectually, nonviolence offers strategies and approaches not otherwise available. Both those who extol nonviolence and those who denigrate it as folly should read this book. Otherwise, I think they speak from the most desperate ignorance.
