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A '''peace movement''' is a Social_movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or all wars), minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving World_peace. Means to achieve these ends usually include advocacy of Pacifism, Non-violent_resistance, Diplomacy, Boycotts, Moral_purchasing and Demonstrations.
Some people refer to the global loose affiliation of activists and political interests as having a shared purpose and this constituting a single movement, "'''the''' peace movement", encompassing "the Anti-war movement". Seen this way, the two are often indistinguishable and constitutes a loose, reactive and event-driven collaboration between groups with motivations as diverse as Humanism, Nationalism, Environmentalism, Anti-racism, anti-sexism, hospitality, Ideology, Theology, and Fear.
== Diversity of ideals ==
There is much confusion over what "peace" is (or should be), which results in a plurality of movements seeking diverse ideals of peace. Particularly, "anti-war" movements often have ill-defined goals.
It is often not clear whether a movement or a particular protest is against war in general, as in Pacifism, or against one side's participation in a war (but not the other's). Indeed, some observers feel that this unclarity has represented a key part of the propaganda strategy of those seeking victory in, e.g., the Vietnam_War.
Global protests against the US invasion of Iraq in early 2003 are an example of a more specific, short term and loosely-affiliated Single-issue "movement" —with relatively scattered ideological priorities, ranging from absolutist Pacifism to situational anti-Unilateralism. Nonetheless, some of those who are involved in several such short term movements and build up trust relationships with others within them, do tend to eventually join more global or long-term movements.
By contrast, some elements of the global peace movement seek to guarantee Health_security by ending war and assuring what they see as basic Human_rights including the right of all people to have access to air, water, food, shelter and publicly funded health care. A large cadre of activists seek Social_justice in the form of equal protection under the law and equal opportunity under the law for groups that have previously been disenfranchised.
The movement is primarily characterized by a belief that humans should not war on each other or engage in violent ethnic conflicts over language, race or resources or ethical conflict over religion or Ideology. Long-term opponents of war preparations are primarily characterized by a belief that military power is not the equivalent of justice.
The movement tends to oppose the proliferation of dangerous technologies and Weapons_of_mass_destruction, in particular Nuclear_weapons and Biological_warfare. Some, like SIPRI, have voiced special concern that Artificial_intelligence, Molecular_engineering, Genetics and Proteomics have even more vast destructive potential. Thus there is intersection between peace movement elements and Neo-Luddites or Primitivism, but also with the more mainstream technology critics such as the Green_parties, Greenpeace and the Ecology_movement they are part of.
It is one of several movements that led to the formation of Green_Party political associations in many democratic countries near the end of the 20th century. The peace movement has a very strong influence in some countries' green parties, such as in Germany, perhaps reflecting that country's negative experiences with Militarism in the 20th_century.
== Current events ==
Some believe that as of the Iraq crisis, peace movements could be seen as part of a global effort to cohere "public opinion as a superpower" to compete with perceived U.S. Unilateralism.
Peace movements are also generally thought to have benefited from the rise of Internet communication and coordination, the so-called smart mob technology.
It has also been suggested that such efforts as Indymedia and the Wikipedia play a role in coordinating this public opinion, e.g. compiling lists of alleged effects of invading Iraq, providing neutral views of the Israeli-Palestinian_conflict, of Islamist activity, varying views of Ethics and of Politics, and providing a quick check on biased views of History.
== Detailed history by region ==
These histories will begin with the countries that suffered during World_War_II, and which effectively began the postwar period in a submitted position, and wrote peace into their constitutions. They will then deal with the English-speaking_world and the arguments more familiar to the English speaking reader, which intersect with Current_events most strongly, and are the current focus of the peace movement worldwide.
=== Germany ===
Such Green_parties and related political associations were formed in many democratic countries near the end of the 20th century. The peace movement has a very strong influence in some countries' green parties, such as in Germany. These can sometimes exercise decisive influence over policy, e.g. as during 2002 when the German_Greens influenced German Chancellor Gerhard_Schröder, via their control of the German Foreign Ministry under Joschka_Fischer (a Green and the single most popular politician in Germany at the time), to limit his involvement in the War_on_Terrorism and eventually to unite with French President Jacques_Chirac whose opposition in the UN_Security_Council was decisive in limiting support for the U.S. plan to invade Iraq.
===Israel ===
''Main article: Israeli_peace_camp''
The mainstream peace movement in Israel is Peace_Now, whose supporters tend to vote for the Israeli_Labor_party, Meretz and Shinui. Peace Now's 1982 "400,000 rally" led to the end of the 1982_Peace_for_Galilee war and the establishment of the Kahan_Commission which impeached Ariel_Sharon for indirect responsibility for the Sabra_and_Shatila_massacre committed by Christian Phalangas. Peace Now also advocated a negotiated peace with Palestinians.
Gush_Shalom is a radical leftist movement, and its classification as a ''peace movement'' is highly disputed. Uri_Avneri, the Gush Shalom leader and a former journalist, was among the first to meet and negotiate with PLO leader Yasser_Arafat. Although Gush Shalom earned itself respect in Europe, it is regarded by most Israelis as a Pro-Palestinian movement who supports violence and Terrorism against Israelis. The movement itself hasn't been involved in direct Terrorism but did publish several articles praising Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians.
Other Israeli peace organizations:
* Rabbis_for_Human_Rights
* Physicians_for_Human_Rights
* Jewish-Arab Ta'ayush
* Avraam_Fund for Co-Existence
=== Canada ===
Canada has a diverse peace movement, with coalitions and networks in many cities, towns and regions.
The Toronto Coalition to Stop the War is one of many, and has launched the online War Free Radio.
''The ACTivist Magazine'' is dedicated to advancing the art of activism globally is published in Canada quarterly by ACT for Disarmament. The ACTivist started as a newsletter of the "Against Cruise Testing" (ACT) coalition in 1984. ACT went on to form "ACT for Disarmament", an organization which called for demilitarization around the world. As the movement grew, the newsletter expanded to become a newspaper for "Peace, Ecology & Human Rights". The newspaper continued until 1998 when it switched to its current magazine format.
The Canadian_Peace_Congress (1949-1990) was a leading organizer in the peace movement for many years, particularly when it was under the leadership of James_Gareth_Endicott who was its president until 1971.
=== United Kingdom ===
Post-WWII peace movement efforts in the United Kingdom were initially focused on the dissolution of the British_Empire and the rejection of Imperialism by the United States and Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics. The Anti-nuclear_movement sought to "opt out" of the Cold_War (see below under U.S.) and rejected such ideas as "Britain's Little Independent Nuclear Deterrent" in part on the grounds that it (BLIND) was in contradiction even with MAD (see below). It was usually associated with CND and in later years, with the Peace_camp movement as Labour moved "more to the centre" under Prime Minister Tony_Blair.
By early 2003, the peace movement, mostly grouped together under the banner of the Stop_the_War_Coalition, was powerful enough to cause several of Blair's cabinet to resign, and hundreds of Labour Party MPs to vote against their government. Blair's motion to support militarily the U.S. plan to invade Iraq continued only due to support from the UK Conservative Party. Protests_against_the_invasion_of_Iraq were particularly vocal in Britain. Polls suggested that without UN_Security_Council approval, the UK public was very much opposed to involvement, and over two million people protested in Hyde Park (the previous largest demonstration in the UK having had around 600,000).
=== United States of America ===
Although there was substantial organized resistance to foreign wars in the U.S. since its beginnings, this was often simply an outgrowth of isolationism or religious pacifism, and not in general a coherent movement with single goals until after World_War_II, when these movements were dismissed by most in U.S._foreign_policy circles as impractical as the country entered the Cold_War period of history.
With Cold War tensions rising, the Progressive Party became a home for the peace movement. Like the American_Peace_Mobilization before the war, they were accused of harboring communist sympathies. In the election campaign of 1948, the Progressive Party supported appeasement of the Soviet Union and a ban on Nuclear_weapons. They opposed the Berlin airlift and the Marshall_Plan. They received over one million Popular_votes but no Electoral_votes.
There was a relatively small amount of domestic protest relevant to the Cold War in the 1950s, which saw a large buildup of both nuclear and conventional weapons in both the United States and its adversary, the Soviet_Union. The lack of protest was in part due to McCarthyism and general disdain for those who did not view communist expansion as a threat. It was during this time that the Eisenhower administration developed the policy of Mutual_Assured_Destruction, in which both the U.S. and the USSR held enough nuclear weapons to obliterate each other should they become embroiled in nuclear war. Following this idea, the two superpowers' possession of nuclear weapons was viewed as a deterrent that would prevent any such war from taking place. MAD also became a central idea in the U.S.'s foreign policy of Anti-communism.
One may reasonably date the open explicit and public resistance to this process to the departing comments of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower who warned that the United States was in some danger of being politically dominated by a Military-industrial_complex.
The peace movement in the 1960s in the United States sought to bring an end to the Vietnam_War. Some factions within this movement advocated a unilateral withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam. One reason given for the withdrawal is that it would contribute to a lessening of tensions in the region and thus less human bloodshed. Another, contrasting reason was that the Vietnamese should work out their problems independent of foreign influence.
Opposition to the Vietnam_War tended to unite groups opposed to U.S. anti-communism, Imperialism and Colonialism and, for those involved with the New_Left, Capitalism itself.
Some critics of U.S. withdrawal predicted that it would not contribute to peace but rather vastly increased bloodshed. These critics advocated U.S. forces remain until all threats from the Viet_Cong and North_Vietnamese_Army had been eliminated.
Advocates of U.S. withdrawal were generally known as "doves", and they called their opponents "hawks." The imagery was intended to present the withdrawal advocates as peace-seeking and the withdrawal opponents as bad and predatory. The idea of a chickenhawk refers back to this time, to describe those who had avoided dangerous Military_service before they entered politics, but then advocated aggressive stances once in office.
High-profile opposition to the Vietnam war turned to street protests in an effort to turn U.S. political opinion against the war. The protests gained momentum from Civil_rights_movement that had organized to oppose segregation laws, which had laid a foundation of theory and infrastructure on which the anti-war movement grew. Protests were fueled by a growing network of independently published newspapers, often called the "underground," and the timely advent of large venue rock 'n' roll shows such as Woodstock that attracted young people to mass gatherings.
The fatal shooting of four anti-war protesters at Kent_State_University cemented the resolve of many protesters. The late 1960s in the US became a time of youth rebellion, mass gatherings and riots, many of which began in response to the Assassination of Dr. Martin_Luther_King,_Jr., but which ignited in an atmosphere of open opposition to a war-time government.
Provocative actions by police and by protesters turned anti-war demonstrations in Chicago at the 1968_Democratic_National_Convention into a riot. Explosive news reports of American military abuses, such as the 1968 My_Lai_Massacre, brought new attention and support to the anti-war movement.
Anti-war protests ended with the final withdrawal of troops after the Paris_Peace_Accords were signed in 1973. Momentum from the protest organizations became a main force for the growth of an Environmental_movement in the United States. Veterans of the Vietnam War returned home to join the movement, including John_Kerry, who thirty years later, as a United States Senator, campaigned to become President of the United States. South Vietnam was left to defend itself alone when the fighting resumed. There was no peace movement to protest the renewed bloodshed, and it was conquered in 1975.
Other veterans returned from the war saying that nobody wants to be in a war where people are suffering and dying, but that they found peace in their own minds by knowing they served their country. Some cited the words of George_Washington's 1790 State_of_the_Union_Address, who said, "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."
Before, during, and after the 2003 U.S._invasion_of_Iraq, anti-war activists protested globally. (''see also Protests_against_the_Iraq_war'') Activists continue to protest against the continued occupation of Iraq.
=== Egypt ===
See Cairo_Anti-war_Conference
==See also==
* American_Friends_Service_Committee
* Anti-war
* Atoms_for_Peace_Award
* Christian_Peacemaker_Teams
* Militarism
* Mohandas_Gandhi
* Nobel_Peace_Prize
* Peace
* Peace_symbol
* Peace_Action
* War_Resisters_League
* World_peace
* John_Runnings
== External links ==
* ACT for the Earth
* Canadian Peace Alliance
* Toronto Coalition to Stop the War
* Peace Action -- A U.S. peace and justice organization
* Nonviolence.org and its Peace Movement Homepage
* SIPRI.se - Swedish Peace Institute
*Transcend.ORG - Johan Galtung
*Science For Peace
* Students for Peace
Category:Social_justice
Category:Pacifism
Category:Social_movements
Category:Anti-war
De:Friedensbewegung
Fr:Mouvement_pour_la_paix
It:Movimento_pacifista
Nl:Vredesbeweging
Ja:平和運動