Nonviolent Revolutions

Sharon Nepstad analyzes the success and failure of nonviolent resistance movements across a set of global case studies. Her findings highlight two dimensions that probably don’t get as much attention as they deserve.

First, she reveals the importance of civil-military relations in protest movements: the behavior of the military and other state security forces is often decisive to the fate of unarmed uprisings. And this behavior, in turn, is shaped by the recruitment patterns, training, and organizational structure of those forces. The Tianamen Square massacre, for example, only happened after the Chinese government replaced the local patrolling units with military… show more.

When the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989, it was just months after a similar peaceful protest calling for democracy was thoroughly smashed in Beijing.  Why did one non-violent protest succeed, while the other failed? Indeed, since 1989, a host of non-violent, so-called “color” revolutions have occurred in the Philippines, Ukraine, Georgia, Myanmar, Armenia, and elsewhere. In this book, Nepstad carefully describes how and why some nonviolent movements are able to disarm militaries and overthrow governments, while others fail to do so. Using cases from Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, Nepstad gives a solid, systematic explanation that shows… show more.