Is it too late to say non-violence would have served the Ukrainians better? Probably yes, although it shouldn’t be discounted.   This war with Russia reminds me of 1968 when the Soviet Union sent its tanks into Budapest to overthrow a reforming (but still communist) government only to meet defiance from large sections of the population.   On both occasions the brutality was met not with guns, petrol-bombs and stones but with non-violence and passive obstruction. It worked. St

“1789 is an historic date but it is not an historic example”. The French Revolution, violent to its fingertips, began with the highest motives, led by the most inspired and determined of people, but descended step by step into its own self-created inferno where the revolution consumed its own children.   Violence begets violence and, as Martin Luther King said, “The means and the ends must cohere. We will never have peace in the world until men everywhere recognize that ends

Everything gets said, nothing gets done. When President Donald Trump met President Vladimir Putin in Alaska  we were promised all sorts of goodies- progress in reconciliation in Ukraine and Syria, and not least nuclear disarmament. If there is progress behind the scenes it’s not noticeable to the naked eye.   People talk about Trump being in Putin’s pocket yet when, soon after Trump became president the first time, Putin suggested major cuts in nuclear weapons Trump turned hi