Stephen Zunes’ April 2021 report* reviews the chronology of the resistance struggle in Sudan, the critical role of nonviolent discipline, other factors contributing to the movement’s success, and the current political situation. It seeks to explain how the movement was able to succeed despite enormous odds against it, and what lessons could be learned by those facing similarly difficult circumstances. Given the serious challenges facing the new civilian-led government, there is a real possibility that—as was the case following successful pro-democracy struggles decades earlier—the military could again seize power. However, there are also reasons for hope… Download the PDF here or at *The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC).
Category: Nonviolent Action
Nonviolent Action
Nonviolent Activists Laid the Groundwork to Oppose a Coup. They May Have Saved the Republic
Yes! Jan. 20, 2021 by Stephen Zunes.
Activists prepared for months, expecting Trump to steal the election. They were right, and he failed.
When a Ceasefire is Not Enough
Sojourners Magazine: The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan was an avoidable tragedy. The disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region has been populated since at least the second century B.C.E. by Armenians, one of the world’s oldest Christian civilizations. The Muslim Azeris and others have lived there and in neighboring areas for centuries as well, and the region was ethnically mixed (albeit majority Armenian) when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991…
Is the U.S. Prepared to Resist a Coup?
The Progressive October 26, 2020: President Donald Trump’s refusal to agree to a peaceful transfer of power has raised concerns that the Republicans may try to steal the 2020 Presidential Election… a growing network of organizations is already preparing to launch a large-scale civil resistance movement to defend American democracy.
Resisting Stolen Elections: Lessons from the Philippines, Serbia, Ukraine, and Gambia
ICNC October 23, 2020: Recent precedents we can learn from about how to stop attempts to overturn election results include… one in Southeast Asia, one in Africa and two in Eastern Europe… through large-scale nonviolent direct action. This article looks at these cases, and identifies key lessons.
VIDEO: Democracy Defense: Advice from Activists Around the World
Nonviolence International, Beautiful Trouble, BlackOUT Collective, and OR Books presented a webinar on: “Democracy Defense: Advice from Activists Around the World.” [Zunes begins at 47 mins..]
Sudan’s Democratic Revolution: How They Did It
Reposted April 2020 from Inside Arabia by ICNC,
Nonviolence International and The Conversation
Conditions under Sudan’s oppressive autocratic regime did not fit into what Western analysts see as the right ones for a successful pro-democracy civil resistance movement and yet they have emerged victorious—for now. Among other things, its success points to perhaps the single most important factor: nonviolent discipline…
How Sudan’s Pro-Democracy Uprising Challenges Prevailing Myths about Civil Resistance
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, April 22, 2019: A powerful pro-democracy civil insurrection in Sudan which has ousted a longstanding dictator and his successor is still in progress, but Sudanese are hopeful for a full democratic transition…
Trump’s Controversial Decision on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
The Progressive, April 10, 2019: There is little question that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is bad news. Some of its units have engaged in severe repression of nonviolent dissidents, supported Assad’s brutal counter-insurgency operations in Syria, backed hardline Islamist militia in several foreign countries, and more…
INTERVIEW: Why Sudan’s Dictator Fell and What Comes Next?
On Rising Up With Sonali, Pacifica Radio network; April 12, 2019
DOWNLOAD AUDIO (MP3):
The Power of Nonviolent Action in Conflict Zones
American Friends of Combatants for Peace, 15 October 2018
By Professor Stephen Zunes, for the conference
“Beyond Dialogue—Nonviolence and Social Action”
Neve Shalom/Wahat Al Salam, Israel [source]
The Role of Civil Resistance in Bolivia’s 1977-1982 Pro-Democracy Struggle
July 2018 Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies, V.2(1), and International Center on Nonviolent Conflict and Research Gate:
Despite being the poorest and least developed country in South America, Bolivia was the first to emerge from the period of military dictatorships that dominated the continent from the mid-1960s into the 1980s. This article examines the role of civil resistance in that country’s seemingly improbable early end to military rule, noting how a broad coalition of unions, intellectuals, the Catholic Church, and opposition parties succeeded in bringing down a series of military leaders, eventually ushering in elected civilian governance…
Civil Resistance Against Coups: A Comparative and Historical Perspective
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, December 2017:
This monograph presents in-depth case studies and analysis intended to improve our understanding of the strategic utility of civil resistance against military takeovers; the nature of civil resistance mobilization against coups; and the role of civil resistance against coups.
Remembering Martin Luther King, the Radical for Peace
The Progressive April 3, 2018: King challenged the draining of our national resources for the military, opposed the Vietnam War and other aspects of U.S. foreign policy and questioned an economic system that created enormous poverty amid great wealth. He was assassinated while organizing the Poor People’s March…
Global Journalist: Egypt’s Staged Election
[Zunes’ segment begins at 14 mins.]
Global Journalist March 8, 2018: President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, who led a 2013 coup against Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, is expected to be handily re-elected. That’s because el-Sissi’s government has arrested or intimidated all viable potential opponents…
Power’s Prophet: Remembering Gene Sharp
The Progressive February 1, 2018: Dr. Gene Sharp, a Harvard University-based scholar, through his through analysis of centuries of nonviolent struggle, made a convincing case on utilitarian grounds that nonviolent struggle was a more effective and successful means of resistance than violence…
[Related article & Petition]
In Trump’s America, who’s protesting and why?
Washington Post April 24, 2017: For March 2017, we tallied 585 protests, demonstrations, marches, sit-ins and rallies with at least one in every state and the District. Our conservative guess is that 80,000 to 90,000 people showed up. Because mainstream media often neglect to report nonviolent actions — especially small ones — it is probable that we did not record every event that occurred.
The Bipartisan Effort against Campaigns for Corporate Responsibility
The Progressive, Huffington Post & Common Dreams
The Trump Administration’s efforts to legitimize the Israeli occupation and illegal settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories has received surprising bipartisan support. A series of bills passed or under consideration in Washington and in state capitols seeks to punish companies, religious denominations, academic associations, and other entities which support the use of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) to challenge the occupation of Palestinian land…