A Force More Powerful is a documentary series on one of the 20th century’s most important and least-known stories: how nonviolent power overcame oppression and authoritarian rule.

Nonviolent action is a way for ordinary people to fight for their rights, freedom, and justice. It is frequently associated with moral or ethical nonviolence, but I will address it here as a distinct phenomenon, separate from any moral or ethical underpinnings, to expand on how it works as a pragmatic way to exert leverage […]

I left India more convinced than ever before that nonviolent resistance was the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.” – “The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.,” edited by Clayborne Carson. Since 2011, the world has been a deeply contentious place. Although armed insurgencies rage across the Middle East, the […]

Today the most deadly conflicts in the world are not between states but rather within them, pitting tyrants against the populations they oppress. It is widely believed that these oppressed populations have two choices: acquiesce to tyranny in hopes that it will evolve to something milder or launch a violent insurrection to gain freedom. This […]

We represent and coordinate the Russia diaspora. We pay special attention to those who have recently left Russia due to the considerable deterioration of the political and economic situation. The Free Russia Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nongovernmental U.S.-based organization, led by Russians abroad that seeks to be a voice for those who can’t speak […]

Uncertain construction of the Polish nation and the role of nonviolent resistance Poland’s staggered partitions among its three powerful neighbors: Russia, Prussia and the Habsburg empire ended the existence of the Polish state in 1795. It would take more than 123 years for Poland to re‐emerge in 1918 as an independent nation‐state on the map […]

What makes nonviolent civil resistance movements effective? If we accept the axiom that in politics “power is never given, it is always taken”, the conclusion necessarily is that historic nonviolent movements were successful because, somehow, they wielded power that was greater than that of their opponents. This conclusion conflicts with, and opens up a direct […]

On February 25, Reuters News declared that “a 26-year-old who learned combat skills in the army cadets may be recorded as the man who made up Viktor Yanukovich’s mind to cut and run.” The young man had taken the microphone at a rally in Kyiv, denounced Ukrainian politicians for shaking hands “with this killer,” when […]