VLADIMIR PUTIN'S BRUTAL military intervention into Ukraine, and the Ukrainian people’s courageous stand in defense of democracy, human rights, and human dignity, will go down as one of the most consequential events of the early 21st century. While we mourn the tragic loss of life and growing humanitarian crisis caused by Putin’s invasion, the global community has an opportunity to double down on its support for civil resisters and peacebuilders in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus while massively increasing investment in nonmilitary approaches to challenging war and tyranny around the world, including in the United States.
Sadly, I’m quite familiar with Putin’s authoritarian playbook. In 2001, I worked with a Russian human rights organization that focused on atrocities committed by Russian forces in Chechnya. At the U.S. State Department 11 years later, my work had turned to Syria when Putin backed the Assad regime in dropping barrel bombs and using chemical weapons against the Syrian people. Putin’s scorched-earth tactics and his willingness to target civilians are all too familiar, but no less despicable.
While there is now an interstate war between two sovereign countries and their militaries, what have been remarkable are the profound acts of nonviolent civil resistance led by unarmed civilians in Ukraine, in Russia, and elsewhere in the region. Ordinary people are displaying extraordinary courage while applying significant pressure on the Russian government aggressor using various forms of nonviolent direct action.
Ukrainians have been interposing themselves to stop the advance of Russian tanks and military supplies. Belarusian railway workers apparently have stopped Russian military trains heading into Ukraine by tearing up the tracks. Ukrainians have removed and altered road signs and digital traffic signs to confuse and demoralize Russian troops. In Berdyansk, hundreds of Ukrainians defied the presence of Russian troops by engaging in mass demonstrations to sing the Ukrainian national anthem and demand the troops withdraw. Thousands of citizens attempted to blockade the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (the largest nuclear power station in Europe) to prevent a Russian takeover. Ukrainians are refusing to show identification at newly established Russian military checkpoints and telling soldiers to leave. Orthodox priests in Ukraine have removed Russian Patriarch Kirill’s name from the sacred liturgy. Priests are escorting convoys with food, water, and medicine.
"CIVIL RESISTANCE" IS a method for actively prosecuting conflict involving nonviolent, nonmilitary means of direct action that include “acts of commission” (doing things the opponent does not want you to do), “acts of omission” (refraining from doing things the opponent expects), and a combination of both. The tactics we’ve seen, and other organized acts of civil disobedience and noncooperation, are used to strip power away from an opponent, making the opponent’s ability to maintain control impossible, and to build up power and support for a movement.
In the case of the Russia-Ukraine war, we see civil resistance used to slow and thwart the military invasion and aggression, as in the acts of nonviolent sabotage at the railways in Belarus and public demonstrations that slow or deter a Russian invasion and occupation. Another purpose is to hide and protect civilians and to mitigate violence, including by “nudging” armed actors through fraternization. Essentially, these tactics can buy time for people to escape the path of violence or get access to needed supplies and humanitarian support.
Civil resistance is also used to change the political calculation inside Ukraine, inside Russia importantly, and in the international court of public opinion. The protests inside Ukraine have sent the message that the Ukrainian people are united in their resistance to Russian aggression. The sanctions targeting Russian banks and the boycotts of Russian companies have imposed economic costs on enablers of Putin’s war, and global demonstrations have communicated a powerful message of solidarity with Ukraine and for democracy. Even during a hot war, civil resistance can deter future aggression. Organized civilian-based defense, which is a methodology for mass nonviolent noncooperation with a foreign occupier or aggressor, has already been integrated into the national defense strategy of Lithuania and other Baltic states that share a border with Russia.
IN THE STRUGGLE against authoritarianism—internationally and in the U.S.—nonviolent civil resistance has a strong track record historically. From research that Erica Chenoweth and I conducted, we know that nonviolent resistance campaigns have been effective in achieving their maximalist goals just over 50 percent of the time. Successful campaigns are those that involve large and diverse segments of a population, including youth, women, professionals, workers, business leaders, cultural figures, and religious actors. When diverse groups and pillars in the society refuse to go along with the status quo and engage in collective stubbornness through boycotts, strikes, and other forms of civil disobedience and noncooperation, this can impose costs on an opponent and translate into significant power shifts.
Inside Ukraine now, nearly every segment of Ukrainian society is engaged in some form of mass resistance and dissent. Additionally, the pillars of support in Russia are important to examine, since the Russian people may be in the best position to stop Putin’s aggression. They have the most power and the most leverage, despite the ubiquity of Russian propaganda and misinformation and Putin’s masterful manipulation of historical grievances. Russian mothers, in particular, are a population that Putin may fear the most. Women have historically played a critical role in the success of civil resistance campaigns. Acts of defiance and noncooperation have outsized impact in diminishing the aggressor’s power and communicating dissent, such as the Russian state media editor who held up the sign during a live broadcast that said “No War.” Previous episodes of economically based civil resistance, such as the Russian truckers’ strike in 2015, could be harbingers of future organized dissent inside Russia.
SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS also have an expansive repertoire of nonviolent actions so they can be responsive to the dynamics of conflict and allow for lower-risk actions, which are particularly important in contexts marked by elevated levels of fear and mistrust. More than 15,000 people in Russia have been arrested in anti-war demonstrations, which have taken place in hundreds of towns and cities across the country. When “acts of concentration,” such as large demonstrations, are targeted by police, then lower risk “acts of dispersion,” such as boycotts, work stoppages, overloading systems, and spreading anti-war symbols, can be amplified.
Defections by members of key pillars, particularly armed security forces and economic elites, have been a critical ingredient of successful civil resistance campaigns (as we saw in the Philippines, with entire military units defecting from the Marcos regime, and in South Africa as a result of the consumer boycott of white businesses to end apartheid). For defections to occur, soldiers, business leaders, and others must stop believing in their country’s leadership while at the same time being able to see a role for themselves in a future democratic country. It is not impossible to see more of this happening inside Russia as frustration with the war (and the resulting isolation) continues, and if an anti-war, pro-democracy movement takes root. Some members of the European Parliament are considering how to offer asylum to Russian deserters and defectors, which could accelerate defections.
Pope Francis has issued strong criticism against countries who see Russia’s attack on Ukraine as an opportunity to increase military spending, calling it “madness.” There are effective nonviolent, nonmilitary means of direct action for engaging violent conflict. And, as our research has found, there are effective ways for external actors, governmental and nongovernmental, to support civil resistance in ways that reinforce international human rights law. Now is the time for citizens around the world to press their governments and their religious congregations to significantly increase investments in nonmilitary approaches, including support for nonviolence, civil resistance, peacebuilding, and unarmed civilian protection. This would be a powerful way to stand with Ukraine while providing a solid bulwark against future tyranny and aggression.
Maria J. Stephan, co-author (with Erica Chenoweth) of Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, is chief organizer of the Horizons Project, where she works to build a just, inclusive, and peaceful democracy in the U.S.
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