Lecturer Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Franscisco, argued that nonviolent revolutions had a more successful history than those of violence in a speech at the Korbel School of International Studies last Monday.

The lecture was attended by approximately 60 undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff of Korbel.

“What’s to learn (from these events) is the success of peaceful movements against highly militarized states,” said Zunes.

Zunes is known internationally for his advocacy for peaceful revolutions and opposition to the foreign policy of the United States in the Middle East.

He has written three books on these subjects, including Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism, Nonviolent Social Movements and Western Sahara War and Nationalism and Conflict Resolution.

The history of Middle Eastern revolutions shows that nonviolent protest is more effective than violent revolutions, Zunes argued.

He cited several examples of peaceful resolutions considered a success, including Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt during the 2011 demonstrations now referred to by many as the “Arab Spring.”

He also said the Middle East has shown, contrary to what many believe, a history of successful peaceful revolts, such as the Shah and Iranian revolutions.

“There is nothing in Islamic society contrary to the idea of unarmed resistance,” Zunes said. “They obey authority, but not if they do not believe it to be in God’s will.”

Protesters in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen were “facing down cannons, bullets, gun squads and tear gas,” to continue carrying out a peaceful revolution said Zunes.

Zunes said part of the reason many around the world perceive these protests as being violent is because of media coverage focusing on the most violent aspects of each protest.

However, he noted in each case people were being killed in these protests.

He said Western thinking often assigns too much credit to Western leaders for the movements for Democracy in the Middle East, such as former President Bush.

“It is somewhat racist to think that people in the Middle East cannot think critically and analyze the situation,” said Zunes.

Zunes also critiqued the perception the protests were carried out mostly because of usage of Western social media such as Facebook.

In addition, Zunes noted that Internet usage and cell phones were cut off within five days of the first protests.
“It was not the internet— it was the street smarts of the people,” said Zunes.

According to him, the protests have had a significant impact on Middle Eastern culture and its future.
He called the peaceful protests a “major blow to Al-Qaeda” because they demonstrated the ability to bring down governments through means other than violence.

Zunes said the demonstrations dealt a similar blow to Neoliberal thinking in the Western Hemisphere about their role in bringing Democracy to the Middle East by showing movements are rarely a product of Western influence.

Ultimately, nonviolent protests had a long string of success in Middle Eastern history.

He also said it continues to be the most effective way to ignite change in the region, according to Zunes.

“An overwhelming amount of the time, non-violent methods are effective,” said Zunes. “If you look at revolutions that didn’t work it’s not because of nonviolence, it’s because of strategy.”