2. Put CBD in context with other alternatives by examining such aspects as:Conflict resolution. Balance of power. Disarmament. Other alternatives tonuclear defense. Conventional military. Paramilitary
3. Refer to Paths to Peace: Exploring the Feasibility of Sustainable Peace byWillis Harmon with Richard Smoke.
4. War is obsolete, as Beyond War has pointed out. It is too destructive. CBDwould result in fewer deaths. One exposes oneself to death, but refuses to beinvolved in killing.
5. Point out that forty years of deterrence has decreased our security.
6. We need a suitable vocabulary to guide our thinking. The Presbyterians in1980 made a distinction between "peacemaking" (a long-term strategy) and"peacekeeping" (short-term tactics). This offered pacifists a way to enterinto dialog with the military: the latter buying us a time of relative safetyand the former doing something positive with that time.
7. If the military broadened its conception of national defense it couldincorporate CBD into its operations.
8. Review Gene Sharp's contributions to the thinking about CBD. Refer to hisbook Vocabulary of Civilian Defense. Distribute his twelve categories and 198types of nonviolent action to reveal the potential breadth of CBD. ExploreSharp's ideas concerning what CBD is not about (such as morality).
9. Compare and contrast spontaneous unarmed resistance vs. trained, educatedCBD.
Examples of the former: The American colonists' resistance to Britain,1763-1775. George Washington's administration of the Revolutionary War.Hungarian resistance to Austrian rule 1859-67. Finnish politicalnon-cooperation and civil disobedience with Russia, 1889-1905. China'sboycott of U.S. goods, 1905. Russian resistance in 1905 and 1917 before therevolution. Korean nonviolent protest against Japanese rule, 1919-1920.India's campaign for independence from Britain, 1918-1934. The Germangovernment's resistance to Franco-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr, 1923.
World War II examples: Norway and Denmark. Netherlands' undergroundresistance. Resistance to anti-Jewish measures in Bulgaria, Italy, France andDenmark.
Post-World War II examples: Lithuanian resistance, 1944-52. East Germanuprising, 1953. Strikes in Soviet political prisoner camps, 1953. Hungarianrevolution, 1956. Poland Czechoslovakian resistance to Soviet invasion, 1968.De-Stalinization in the Soviet Union. Buddhist campaigns against thegovernment of S. Vietnam, 1963-1966.
Recent examples: Popular removal of dictators in Central America.Governmental change in Korea. Bloodless revolution in The Philippines. Burma.Resistance to West Bank occupation.
10. Discuss countries willing to consider CBD: Denmark, China, Bolivia orCosta Rica.
11. Discuss the types of pro-CBD activities being undertaken in variouscountries.
12. Discuss action ideas like: Blending the military and CBD. Creating anational youth corps that would train for CBD as well as undertaking civicprojects. Using the principles of CBD at home, in schools and within thecommunity. Bringing CBD into U.S. universities.
13. Intellectual antecedents to CBD (e.g. Gandhi, Thoreau, Tolstoy).
14. Discuss newspaper and magazine articles with a relationship to CBD.
15. Build CBD around small groups that meet to analyze current events,discuss alternative ways of responding and train for CBD action.
16. Show how CBD offers a spiritually acceptable form of defense forChristians and others who eschew killing. Refer to United Methodist Bishops'letter "In Defense of Creation" which mentions CBD.
W. Henry Tucker
Reprinted with permission from Civilian-Based Defense.