| Oklahomans for Global Solutions |
| Envisioning a future in which people work together to abolish war, protect our rights and freedoms, establish a culture of peace, and solve the problems facing humanity that no nation can solve alone. |
| "I salute the flag of the State of Oklahoma. Its symbols of peace unite all people." |
| This website is maintained by Bill Bryant, dba Small World Business Services ... Page created January 12, 2005. |
| The Woolly Rhino Hunters You know about the Woolly Rhinoceros, don’t you? They were fearsome creatures. They lived thousands of years ago, and they occupied a vast stretch of land from Europe to eastern Asia. They were big. They were fast. And they had a bad temper. … [MORE] You Might Be a World Federalist If... 10. You think it is perfectly plausible that Klingons and Vulcans would be able to live peaceably as part of a planetary federation, so why not the nations of Earth? 9. You admire the people of Switzerland, and not just because they make good watches. 8. You celebrated the 200th anniversary of the publication of Immanuel Kant's essay, "Toward Perpetual Peace." … [MORE] The Unconquerable World Jonathan Schell has written a hopeful book, “The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People.” …Schell describes how our world operates, in a political sense, on two basic types of power. One kind of power is coercive … Another kind of power is “cooperative power...” It is a power that manifests itself when people work together to achieve a common goal. … [MORE] Department of Peace By Dennis Kucinich The United States was founded on hope, optimism, and a commitment to freedom. We can once again become a beacon of hope for the world…. It is time to jettison our illusions and fears and to transform age-old challenges with new thinking. This is the idea behind my proposal to establish a Department of Peace. This is the idea to make nonviolence an organizing principle at home and abroad and dedicate ourselves to peaceful coexistence, consensus building, disarmament, and respect for international treaties. Violence and war are not inevitable. Nonviolence and peace are inevitable…. [MORE] On World Democracy By Jim Stark At the height of the Cold War, in 1977, I founded “Operation Dismantle” in Canada. The organization spent years and a busload of money trying unsuccessfully to launch a global referendum on balanced and verifiable nuclear disarmament. On reflection, that goal was far too limited…, plus there was a showstopper, in that the only practical way of having any global referendum was for the governments of nations to conduct the world vote…. Now, a quarter century later, there is a new route around that showstopper, and there is no doubt what the question on the ballot must really be. That “new route” is the Internet, and the objective must be world democracy. ... [MORE] |
| Articles |
The Unconquerable World
by Jonathan Schell
by Jonathan Schell
Metropolitan Books, © 2003
Reviewed by Bill Bryant
Jonathan Schell has written a hopeful book, “The Unconquerable
World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People.” Although I
don’t agree with all of the author’s conclusions, I like his analysis
of the situation we’re in today.
Schell describes how our world operates, in a political sense, on
two basic types of power. One kind of power is coercive – it is
the power of force and violence. We have seen it used
repeatedly throughout history. Many people believe that the
foundation of government is coercive power. Laws are obeyed
because force may be applied.
Another kind of power is “cooperative power.” Cooperative
power is non-violent. It is a power that manifests itself when
people work together to achieve a common goal. It is the power
of “Soul Force” that Gandhi employed when he challenged the
British to end their imperial rule over India. It is the power of
Non-Violent Action that Martin Luther King used when he sought
justice in America. It is the power of Solidarity that led to the
collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. As Schell says,
cooperative power “flows from people’s freedom to act in behalf
of their interests and beliefs.”
Both kinds of power exist. The question for us to consider is
this: When our world is faced with extreme danger (as it is
today), which power is the best for us to use? Which power
produces the outcomes that we want to achieve?
In Schell’s analysis, the old way of fighting violence with violence
doesn’t work anymore. Coercive power has too many limits. For
example, it tends to provoke counter-violence which can result in
a vacuum of power (as we see in Iraq today).
Cooperative power is more useful. Cooperative power promotes
justice and freedom and security for all people. We can see the
strength of cooperative power in the spread of democracy
throughout the world during the last 50 years. We can see it in
the emergence of a vibrant space for our new global civil society.
Modern economies need cooperative power to prosper. Without
it, no government can endure.
This is a quote from the final chapter of Schell’s book. It sums up
nicely his 388 page opus:
“…The days when humanity can hope to save itself from
force with force are over. None of the structures of violence
– not the balance of power, not the balance of terror, not
empire – can any longer rescue the world from the use of
violence, now grown apocalyptic. Force can only lead to
more force, not to peace. Only a turn to structures of
cooperative power can offer hope. To choose that path, the
United States would, as a first order of business, have to
choose the American republic over the American empire,
and then, on the basis of the principles that underlie the
republic, join with other nations to build cooperative
structures as a basis for peace.”
I would add to the idea that our nation should join with other
nations. In addition, I would say, it makes sense for individual
citizens to work in solidarity with others through non-national
structures – like, through the many civil society organizations
that span our globe. As the saying goes, “When the people
lead, the leaders will follow.”
Reviewed by Bill Bryant
Jonathan Schell has written a hopeful book, “The Unconquerable
World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People.” Although I
don’t agree with all of the author’s conclusions, I like his analysis
of the situation we’re in today.
Schell describes how our world operates, in a political sense, on
two basic types of power. One kind of power is coercive – it is
the power of force and violence. We have seen it used
repeatedly throughout history. Many people believe that the
foundation of government is coercive power. Laws are obeyed
because force may be applied.
Another kind of power is “cooperative power.” Cooperative
power is non-violent. It is a power that manifests itself when
people work together to achieve a common goal. It is the power
of “Soul Force” that Gandhi employed when he challenged the
British to end their imperial rule over India. It is the power of
Non-Violent Action that Martin Luther King used when he sought
justice in America. It is the power of Solidarity that led to the
collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. As Schell says,
cooperative power “flows from people’s freedom to act in behalf
of their interests and beliefs.”
Both kinds of power exist. The question for us to consider is
this: When our world is faced with extreme danger (as it is
today), which power is the best for us to use? Which power
produces the outcomes that we want to achieve?
In Schell’s analysis, the old way of fighting violence with violence
doesn’t work anymore. Coercive power has too many limits. For
example, it tends to provoke counter-violence which can result in
a vacuum of power (as we see in Iraq today).
Cooperative power is more useful. Cooperative power promotes
justice and freedom and security for all people. We can see the
strength of cooperative power in the spread of democracy
throughout the world during the last 50 years. We can see it in
the emergence of a vibrant space for our new global civil society.
Modern economies need cooperative power to prosper. Without
it, no government can endure.
This is a quote from the final chapter of Schell’s book. It sums up
nicely his 388 page opus:
“…The days when humanity can hope to save itself from
force with force are over. None of the structures of violence
– not the balance of power, not the balance of terror, not
empire – can any longer rescue the world from the use of
violence, now grown apocalyptic. Force can only lead to
more force, not to peace. Only a turn to structures of
cooperative power can offer hope. To choose that path, the
United States would, as a first order of business, have to
choose the American republic over the American empire,
and then, on the basis of the principles that underlie the
republic, join with other nations to build cooperative
structures as a basis for peace.”
I would add to the idea that our nation should join with other
nations. In addition, I would say, it makes sense for individual
citizens to work in solidarity with others through non-national
structures – like, through the many civil society organizations
that span our globe. As the saying goes, “When the people
lead, the leaders will follow.”