Stephen Zunes , professor of politics and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco and chair fo the academic advisory committee of the International Center on Non-violent conflict, offers a view off the mainstream media grid.
He claims that the most successful pro-democracy protests have been the non-violent ones. Over the past decades, this has been the case. Note - the Philippines, Serbia, Chile, Poland, Bolivia, the Maldives and now Egypt and Tunisia.
Even Libya made its greatest strides in the early non-violent phase of the uprising. In the first week resignations took place in the cabinet, pilots crashed their planes or flew them out of the country, refused to bomb protesters. Thousands of soldiers defected. But when the protest grew violent the gains stalled.
Zunes claims that Libya may end up being an example not of the ineffectiveness of non-violence but of the need for strategic, well-organized non-violent protest.
It takes great courage to take part in these protests but in the long run, the violent rebellion may prove far more costly.
Peter
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