Part IV Shaping the Future
Introduction To Strategic Planning
(“Waging Nonviolent Struggle,” Gene Sharp, 2005)

… Knowledge [of past nonviolent practices and and understanding of the processes operating in those cases] do not tell us what, if anything, we might do if we wish to make this type of struggle more effective in the future than it has been in the past. Considering the gravity of present conflicts in various parts of the world, and also projection about possible future forms of oppression, domination, and exploitation, it is highly desirable that people who choose to oppose these systems have at their disposal new information about how they can apply this technique still more effectively than it has been applied in the past.

One of the most important skills that will greatly contribute to making this technique more effective in the future is the ability to plan strategies for waging this technique of struggle in a variety of conflict situations.

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Before attempting to plan an overall grand strategy for a long-term phased nonviolent struggle, or limited strategies for individual campaigns within that struggle, it is necessary first to gather and analyze much information about the context in which the impending conflict will occur.

It is insufficient simply to be familiar with the technique of nonviolent struggle and understand how it operates, although this is a vital prerequisite. Rather, in order to make the application of nonviolent struggle as effective as possible in a given set of circumstances, strategic planning is also essential.

It is impossible to develop a wise strategy for the conduct of a particular struggle if the planners are not intimately familiar with the “conflict situation,” or the context in which the struggle will take place. It is essential to know and compare the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses (actual and potential) of the groups that will be contending in the future conflict, as well as of those groups that will not initially be directly involved. Geographic, social, economic, political, cultural, climatological, and other factors also need to be examined.

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National No Nukes Trial Handbook 12-5-11-web