Active Nonviolence in Crimea

For those seeking a look at Crimea that considers the situation in relatable human terms, I highly recommend Patrick Reevell’s article, “No Bloodshed in a Standoff at an Airfield in Ukraine,” published in the New York Times this morning. It demonstrates Ukrainian soldiers using active nonviolence to protest the Russian soldiers’ occupation of their airfield Tuesday.

The Ukrainian soldiers' leader, Col. Yuli Mamchur, was acting against orders from the Ukrainian naval command, “who had ordered them to hand over their weapons to other Ukrainian units” that had defected to the pro-Russian government of Crimea. (The leader of the Ukrainian navy himself had defected.) Col. Mamchur chose to oppose the Russians’ occupation and the Crimean government’s cooperation by “order[ing] his men to meet the Russians unarmed, hoping to force a peaceful resolution.”

This is exactly the method of nonviolent protest: forcing a peaceful resolution by demonstrating dissent while refusing to use violence. By challenging the goodwill of the oppressor, the tactic denies the oppressors any excuse to use violence and gives them no option but to either become the wrongdoer through illegitimate violence or to give in to the protesters’ demands, which is what happened here. I will let you find the rest of the thrilling and bizarre details in the article (at one point during the standoff, a soccer game erupts). My point is that this action demonstrates the effectiveness of active nonviolence, a method of dissent that continues to have a low reputation and understanding. I’ve been met with giggles for using the phrase in the past, which is somewhat disturbing. However, this event shows how it is ultimately the most effective response to violent oppression. Furthermore, it shows how media attention can take an incident far from our view and whose participants may have never expected to gain recognition and bring it to the forefront of public discussion. International attention enforces the consequences of the use of violence by either side.

For more on active nonviolence, the technique pioneered by Gandhi and other 20th century protest leaders, you should check out at least the introduction of A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict by Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall. The chapters contain more fascinating stories much like what happened at the Crimean airfield yesterday.