Global Peace Movement Research Paper

"Contradictions in a sovereign state sometimes lead to a civil war, but denying full sovereignty is not a solution. Frustrated by outside control they cannot change, Iraqis are taking out their frustrations on each other" (Grossmann, 2006).

Other authors are more moderate in expressing their concerns and convictions when it comes to the global peace movements following the 9/11events. The spread of mass terror has adapted to the change of system in many states. The democracy, the power of the people is aimed at by aiming at destroying the people's trust in the effectiveness of men ruled by men formula. "Terrorism has become for its perpetrators, supporters and sponsors, the most attractive low-cost, low-risk, but potentially high-yield method of attacking a regime or a rival faction"(Wilkinson, 2003).

The rise and new methods of this new form of war aimed at democracy, named terrorism, spread all over the world are reasons to change the strategy of peace movement. Terror is easy to be used both by those seeking to destabilize a country by spreading constant fear at a national level and by those who claim to fight against terrorists. "Social dramas produce unintended interpretations; they become performative contradictions in the philosophical sense. Ambiguity replaces clarity. There is a doubleness of text." (Alexander, 2004) in the author's view, there are also consequences of the military actions destined to bring and maintain peace in some arts of the world that although successful for the moment, will trigger some unexpected consequences aimed at those who thought have given peace back to a nation that had been robbed of it. The clash of civilizations between West and East has made in Alexander's vision events like 9/11 possible. "The most recent and most highly consequential emplotments on this tragic contrapuntal culture structure resulted from American performances in Afghanistan in the 1980s and the Gulf War in the 1990s. The Afghan War despite its apparent triumph for the West, marked a failed performance, for it unintentionally produced an anti-western understanding in a significant segment of its audience"(Alexander, 2004).

There is also potential for a misinterpretation of the goals and intentions of the American troops still fighting in Iraq for the sake of peace keeping within the country. The casualties among Iraqi civilians are huge in numbers and the loss of an Iraqi life should be treated just as that of an American.(Grossmann, 2006)

The peace movement will have to find complex solutions to end the war altogether in order to relate to equal values of human lives.

Political opportunity structures should be nothing new to a regime, even a democratic one. "Secretary-General Kofi Annan recently told BBC's Owen Bennett Jones that the invasion was "illegal"(Carty, 2006). France, Germany and the United Nations did not give their support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq and therefore, today's U.S. peace keeping efforts in Iraq are hardly credible or wished for anymore. Thus, a clash among elites created by the new war forms and their respective struggles to annihilate them called for a different, more complex approach of the peace movement. Grassroots movements have better chances now than ever to have a heavy influence on a state's policies (Carty, 2006). Not only the administration, but also the activists against the war in Iraq can take advantage of POS. (Political Opportunities Structures). The very means used to start a war became useful weapons in the hands of those opposing it. The opportunities are numerous and they range from the massive losses both in lives and in economic terms to the poor results and an ending that is never near. The public has new technologies, strategies and means to persuade and influence a government's decision when it comes to peace movements and their legitimacy and is more likely to use it.

References

Alexander, J.C. From the Depths of Despair: Performance, Counterperformance, and September 11. Sociological Theory, Vol. 22, No. 1, Theories of Terrorism: A Symposium (Mar., 2004), pp. 88-105 Published by: American Sociological Association

Carty, V and Onyett, J (2006) 'Protest, Cyberactivism and New Social Movements: The Re-emergence of the Peace Movement Post 9/11, Social Movement Studies, Vol.5, No. 3, pp.229-249, December.

Laity, P. 2001. The British Peace Movement, 1870-1914. Oxford University Press

Grossman, Z (2006) New Challenge for the Antiwar Movement.Retrieved: September 14, 2008. Available at http://www.counterpunch.org/grossman01052006.html

Powell, J. William Penn, America's First Great Champion for Liberty and Peace. Retrieved: September 14, 2008. Available at http://www.quaker.org/wmpenn.html

Podobnik, B and Reifer, T, (2005) eds Transforming Globalization: challenges and opportunities in the post 9/11 era, Boston: Brill, 2005

Hague Convention. Retrieved: September 14, 2008. Available at http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Hague_Convention

League of Nations. Retrieved: September 14, 2008. Available at http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govinfo/collections/league/background.html.....