Adam Roberts

Civil Resistance in the East European and Soviet Revolutions (1991)

Introduction

The death knell of communist rule, which has now ended in all European countries, was sounded not by nuclear weapons, nor even for the most part by the use of military force, but by civil resistance. In the last quarter of 1989, "people power" in v...

Gene Sharp

Making Abolition Of War A Realistic Goal (1980)

INTRODUCTION

The destructiveness of modem war is widely understood. Yet most governments, backed by their populations, amass the largest array of military weaponry and forces of which they are capable. Clearly, none of the past proposals and movements to abolish war and to bring in...

Gene Sharp

From Dictatorship to Democracy (2011)

The essential handbook used for the "Color Revolutions" around the world during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

PREFACE

One of my major concerns for many years has been how people could prevent and destroy dictatorships. This has been nurtured in part because of a belief that human...

Roland Bleiker

Nonviolent Struggle and the Revolution in East Germany (1993)

INTRODUCTION

We were more afraid of the people than the people had reason to be afraid of us.
(Statement by a member of the much feared Stasi, the East German State Security Service)

"We are the people" was the main battle cry of the nonviolent struggle that...

Gene Sharp & Bruce Jenkins

Civilian-Based Defense - A Post-Military Weapons System (1990)

PREFACE

CIVILIAN-BASED DEFENSE is intended to be a substantive introduction to the developing policy of civilian-based defense. Instead of military weaponry, civilian-based defense applies the power of society itself to deter and defend against interna...