Role of Peace Movements - Case Study Example

Role of Peace movements in organizing media attention Introduction The human civilization from the old dayshas been characterized by the incidents of wars and conflicts between the various tribes and the countries of the world. The colonization by the European countries led to bloody battles in the past. With the development of the civilization, the incidents of the wars have decreased but it still happens to affect the lives of millions of the inhabitants in the countries. During all these years, there have been efforts by the society to curb the incidents of wars and conflicts. The efforts have taken the shape of the peace movements. In the earlier part of the human history, the peace movements tried to end the wars. In the modern days, the peace movements have been working to curb the happenings of the war. In other words, the peace movements work to restrict the countries in going to war. The international organizations like the UN work in the process of the peace movements. In addition to the UN, there have been small parties- both Governmental and Non Governmental to stall the happenings of war. The paper will discuss the operations of the peace movements and its effects in two of the most recent conflicts in the modern era. (The International Peace Movement) The case of Iraq Invasion USA attacked Iraq citing the need to overthrow the dictatorship regime of Saddam Hussein. In 2003, the Bush administration attacked Iraq and imposed a control on the country. US was accompanied by UK in the invasion of Iraq. The war was uncalled for and it was unnecessary at the time. It strained the economy of the US and that of the UK. The Bush administration gained the permission of the conquest from the UN with the help of voting. The media of the country made the people believe that it was necessary to go for the war and they supported the President in his conquest. The US started the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the conquest was market by the fall of Baghdad and the killing of millions of innocent inhabitants in the country. In the case of the US, the army lost thousands of soldiers in their fight of the army of Saddam Hussein. There was a growing sentiment against the killing of the innocent people and the loss of lives of the soldiers. It gave rise to the peace movements across the globe. Before the invasion of Iraq, there were peace movements in various cities across the globe. Before the submission of the proposal of the US Government in the UN, there were protests outside the building of the organization. The peace movements achieved the iconic status on 15th February, 2003 when 3 million people protested in Rome. On the same day, there were millions of people protesting in cities world over. The intensity of the movements was greater in the European cities like Barcelona and London. (Largest anti war rally). In the USA, too, there was large number of protests. There were unfavorable views of the public in case of the war. Various media agencies like the Fox News conducted a poll on the war. The survey by Fox News showed that 63% were not supporting the war in Iraq. (Public opinion on the war with Iraq). Before the invasion of Iraq, there were several protests in the cities like Amman, Berlin, Damascus, Paris, Mexico City as well cities in USA and UK. In the case of this war, a considerable part of the population resisted the progression on warfront. There were marches against the Government and rallies held against the Government. The media has been influential in the development of the sentiment in support of the anti war campaigns. The peace movements were large demonstrations like that in Rome and that caught the attention of the media houses. Various Polls and campaigns against the war were conducted. The people came out to the streets or protested where the President went to attend seminars. The reports of the media influenced the sentiments worldwide. The media began to report the activities of the army on a regular basis. The people felt that the US soldiers were unnecessary killed in the warfront. Media’s reports on the mass killings in Iraq also hurt the sentiments of the people and they began to question the policy of the Government. The peace movements before the start of the war took place in various countries all over the world. The people across the world came to know of the Bush administration’s plans of attacking Iraq. However, the war went on as planned. This underlines the fact that the peace movements failed. However, this cannot be termed completely true. The consequences could have been different if the peace movements did not materialize. The increased attention of the media in the peace movements increased the pressure on the Bush Government. The Bush Government had to go to the UN to garner the necessary amount of votes for the war. The world knew of Saddam as a dictator. Most of the people were supporting the views of the Government in the war. However, the peace movements allowed the people to obtain a closer picture of the incident and they went against the Government. Various countries supporting the movement of the American Government faced revolts in their home. The Bush administration faced revolt all over the world and there were groups of people wherever he went. This happened because of the peace movements across the world and the media focus on the subject. The media attention on the peace movements magnified the image of the war as an unnecessary evil. There were growing resentments all over the world against the war. The Peace movements helped the cause for lessening the intensity of the war in Iraq. There were incidents in the war where many people were killed by the US troops and the air force. There were revolts against the mass killings and this helped in lessening the intensity of the war. The peace movements made the stance of the UN stronger to establish peace in the country. The killings lessened and after the execution of Saddam the UN established an interim Government in the country. The Peace movements and the media attention it garnered had a lot to do with the activities of the US and the UK Government in Iraq. If it were not for the peace movements Iraq would have suffered more destruction in the hands of the troops. The media played a huge role in making the people aware of the happenings in Iraq and the reports of the peace movements made the people aware of the intentions of the US and the UK Governments. (Kolb and Swords) The case of Georgia Georgia and Russia have shared a strained relationship after the breakup of the Soviet Union. The Eastern European countries that were under the Russian rule gained sovereignty. However, the Government of Russia under Vladimir Putin wanted to lift Russia to the Heights of the glory days of the Soviet Union. Russia continued to exert control in the countries in the region. The strained relationship caused the war. The two sides had military buildup in the regions and the war started. There were incidents of hacking of the computers and bombing by the Russians. However, the reports of the wars were not published widely in the media. The Government controls the Russian print media and it did not catch the attention of the world. In addition to this, the Russian attack on the Georgian border was quick and the media could not catch the incidents in the border. The media only reported the incidents in Russia. In the country, there was not much resentment on the policies of the Government due to the Communist set up. Historically, the people have supported the activities of the Government. The peace movements all over the world took place only after the invasion of the Russian troops in the Georgian territory. The conflict took place at the time of the greatest sporting event- the Olympics. The happening of the Olympics meant that the media was engrossed in the Olympics. The attention of the world was turned to the Games and most of the leaders of the world were away in the Games. That meant that the world was unaware of the happenings in the Eastern Europe. The world noticed the invasion only after it actually started and that led to the peace movements. The peace movements were smaller in comparison to that of Iraq. Barrack Obama- the President of the USA made it obvious to the Russian counterparts the consequences of the war and advocated Georgia’s membership in the NATO. He stated that the Russians should halt their progress as both sides have been aggravated by the war. There were needs for aids in both sides of the border and urged both sides to make peace. The Peace movements never assumed the stature like in the case of Iraq. (Fisking Obambi’ response to Russian invasion of US ally Georgia; McCotter) The peace movements for the Russian invasion failed in every extent. As there were not many mass movements, the attention of the media was not caught. The media did not report the incidents with the same intensity like in the case of Iraq. As there were not many revolts against the war, the Russians acted on their free will. This resulted in huge loss of lives and the destruction of the villages in the Georgian side. The Russian soldiers looted the villages and the economy crumbled. The fact that the countries in the East European side were already poor aggravated the effects of the war. Role of the Peace Movements in the two cases The Peace Movements played a positive part in the Iraq conquest. There was loss of lives. However, the effects would have been more severe without the role-played by the movements. The strong military power of the USA combined with that of UK could have played havoc with the lives of the people in Iraq. However, large demonstrations in the form of peace movements garnered the attention of the media. The media began to report the incidents of the war and helped in the growing sentiment against the war in all places of the world. Soon there were more people resenting the war. This pressurized the Government of the UK and the USA to lessen the intensity of the war. There were lesser loss of lives and property. In the case of Georgia, there were practically no movements against the war. It failed to garner media attention and the Olympics aggravated this. The media looks for the sensational news and in the case of Iraq the large demonstrations like that in Rome supported it. However, in the case of Georgia, there were no movements and the media was covering the other sensational news- the Olympics. As a result, there were many people dead and the villages were demolished. The people in the other countries did not have an idea about the war and there were no pressure on Russia. It was after the invasion, that the people took notice. According to the social learning theory, people learn from the behavior of the others. Bandura, the proponent of the theory stated “Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action.” The peace movements help the other people to learn from the rebellion and take the movements as a guide to their protests. (Social learning theory). In the case of the peace movements in Iraq, the stature of the movements was huge and people began to learn the autocracy of the US and the UK Government. However, in the case of Georgia, people failed to learn about the war as there was less number of peace movements. Conclusions From the above account, it can be stated that the peace movements played a vital role in garnering the media attention in the case of the war in Iraq. In the case of Georgia though, the war took a worse turn than it was intended due to the absence of the peace movements. Had there been peace movements and anti war demonstrations in huge numbers, the media would probably have covered it. It would have caught the attention of the world population and the Government of Russia would have been pressurized. The loss of lives would have been lesser. The media and the peace movements play a vital role in lessening the intensity of cross-country wars and this has been proved by the latest of the devastating wars of the human history. Works Cited 1. The International Peace Movement. N.d. Available at: http://www.ppl.nl/100years/peacemovement/ (Accessed on 18th May, 2010) 2. Kolb, Felix and Swords, Alicia. The peace movement after the invasion of Iraq. Pax Humana. 16th April, 2003. Available at: http://paxhumana.info/article.php3?id_article=160 (Accessed on 18th May, 2010) 3. McCotter, Thadeus. Russia’s invasion of Georgia. The Washington Times. 11th August, 2008. Available at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/11/russias-invasion-of-georgia-what-to-do-about-mosco/ (accessed on 18th May, 2010) 4. Fisking Obambi’ response to Russian invasion of US ally Georgia. Atlas Shrugs. 11th August, 2008. Available at: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/08/fisking-obambis.html (Accessed on 18th May, 2010) 5. Largest anti war rally. Guinness World Records. N.d. Available at: http://web.archive.org/web/20040904214302/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=54365 (Accessed on 18th May, 2010) 6. Public opinion on the war with Iraq. AEI Public Opinion Studies. 24th July, 2008. Available at: http://www.aei.org/docLib/200701121_roody2.pdf (Accessed on 18th May, 2010). 7. Social Learning Theory. Learning theories.com. n.d. Available at: http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html (Accessed on 18th May, 2010) Read More