Maria Stephan

Summer 2008

"Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict"

Journal Article, International Security, issue 1, volume 33

By Maria Stephan, Former Research Fellow, Intrastate Conflict Program/International Security Program, 2003-2005 and Erica Chenoweth, Former Associate, International Security Program, 2006–2008; Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010

The historical record indicates that nonviolent campaigns have been more successful than armed campaigns in achieving ultimate goals in political struggles, even when used against similar opponents and in the face of repression. Nonviolent campaigns are more likely to win legitimacy, attract widespread domestic and international support, neutralize the opponent's security forces, and compel loyalty shifts among erstwhile opponent supporters than are armed campaigns, which enjoin the active support of a relatively small number of people, offer the opponent a justification for violent counterattacks, and are less likely to prompt loyalty shifts and defections. An original, aggregate data set of all known major nonviolent and violent resistance campaigns from 1900 to 2006 is used to test these claims. These dynamics are further explored in case studies of resistance campaigns in Southeast Asia that have featured periods of both violent and nonviolent resistance.

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Summer 2004

The Case for Peacekeeping in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Journal Article, International Peacekeeping, issue 2, volume 11

By Maria Stephan, Former Research Fellow, Intrastate Conflict Program/International Security Program, 2003-2005

Spring 2003

People Power in the Holy Land: How Popular Nonviolent Struggle Can Transform the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Journal Article, Journal of Public and International Affairs, volume 14

By Maria Stephan, Former Research Fellow, Intrastate Conflict Program/International Security Program, 2003-2005