Sophie McNeill, a reporter with SBS Television Australia, has a blog with her reports on the nonviolent attempt to bring down the Lebanese government by Hezbollah and Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement. Her coverage seems pretty even handed.
Category Archives: Games
Nonviolent action conferences in the Middle East
I found the article Nonviolence can work wonders – even in the Middle East from the Christian Science Monitor about a gathering of nonviolence activists in Jordan. Interesting article.
There was another gathering called Celebrating Nonviolent Resistance held in Bethlehem in December 2005. I found out about it from this conference update.
Free Nonviolent Struggle Guide and other resources
I went looking for a list of nonviolent struggles in the world and found the Center for Applied NonViolent Action and Strategies. They were formed by some of the people who organized the overthrow of Milosevic in Serbia in 2000. They have a useful (and free) guide for waging Nonviolent Struggle.
A few more good sites are:
- Nonviolence International
- Nonviolent Peaceforce
- Center for Global Nonviolence
- The Albert Einstein Institution
- International Center for Nonviolent Conflict
- PeacePower: Journal of Nonviolence and Conflict Resolution
I make no claim as to the ideology of these groups only that they have some useful information on practicing strategic nonviolent action.
Nonviolent action game update
A quick update on the game. I am in the midst of rewriting it and have the key game mechanics done. I borrowed some of the game mechanics from Crossfire, an innovative World War II company level miniatures combat game. The key things I borrowed from it are:
- No fixed turns. Players can continue to act while they have the initiative. When they lose the initiative, turn passes to the other player (or team of players).
- No measuring. Units move from feature to feature (street intersections for example) rather than fixed distances. Some units will be able to move more than one feature each time (i.e. vehicles).
My game also focuses much more on command and control than the previous version.
I also decided to change the title from With Weapons of Will to By Will Alone, though that isn't a definite.
I hope to start playtesting it in limited venues before January with larger play tests in January. I want to have a game ready for Havoc, a miniature gaming convention in Massachusetts in March.
Lakey on spontaneous nonviolence
Here's a note from nonviolent activist George Lakey about the Palestinian tactic of nonviolently stopping Israeli aircraft from bombing Palestinian leaders and activists (reported ). Matt Guynn posted it:
It's a great example of NV defense, though, innovative, and the kind of thing which, if I advocated as a US'er to some Palestinians I've known they would laugh it off as ridiculous because it wouldn't deter the IDF.
I love these spontaneous things that people come up with in the midst of struggle, even people basically committed to violent struggle, when they realize that (once again) nonviolent means are often more powerful than violent means.
Interesting nonviolent tactic used by Palestinians
Found this interesting article from the Guardian via Common Dreams: Palestinians use human shield to halt Israeli air strike on militants' homes. I believe that this tactic was also used by the Serbs to counter NATO bombings during the Kosovo War.
Nonviolence News
Found Nonviolence News from Matt Guynn's comment. Been working on my campaign for Massachusetts Treasurer so I did not notice it. The campaign will keep me busy until November. After that I hope to have a revised version of With Weapons of Will out for playtest. See you on the campaign trail.
A Force More Powerful Game Available
A FORCE MORE POWERFUL – The Game of NONVIOLENT Strategy is now available.
It is a computer game that allows people to try their hand at defeating dictators, military occupiers, and
corrupt rulers–not with laser rays and AK47s–but with a non-military strategy
and nonviolent weapons.
It is only $19.95 plus shipping/handling.
It looks really cool and will be quite a useful tool for teaching nonviolent strategy.
Now if it had a US scenario.
The start of nonviolent protests in Azerbaijan
The Christian Science Monitor reports on the start of non-violent protests in Azerbaijan. The objectives:
Azeri opposition leaders are hoping to harness
popular outrage over the flawed election to force authorities into
staging the voting again – with more democratic conditions.
Nuf said… for now.
The cult of ‘People Power’?
The BBC news page has a commontary by Mark Almond entitled The cult of 'People Power' . He makes some good points, but doesn't seem to note that a non-violent revolution, even if it leaves many of the same corrupt lower-level pols in power, is significantly preferable to a violent revolution that likely does the same thing, but leaves far more people dead.
He notes:
Revolutions may sometimes be necessary but their
outcomes are always messy. The danger today is that when ordinary
people see the intrigue and backroom deals which accompany People Power
behind the scenes, they plunge from hope to despair. Far from
energising true democracy, People Power's "day after" of cynical
politics as usual causes the people who went on the streets in millions
to sink into apathy for years to come.
The need then is to keep the new leaders feet to the fire with social movements organized outside of the prevaling power centers. Or perhaps to reject leaders altogether. Hmmm… sounds a bit like anarchy. Good.