Making Europe Unconquerable

Topics covered

In its opening pages, Making Europe Unconquerable states that

This book is mostly about... ‘[Civilian-based defense

civilian-based defence]]’... In this policy, the whole population and the society's institutions become the fighting forces. Their weaponry consists of a vast variety of forms of psychological, economic, social, and political resistance and counter-attack... to deny the attackers their objectives and to make consolidation of political control impossible. These aims would be achieved by applying massive and selective noncooperation and defiance [and seeking] to create maximum international problems for the attackers and to subvert the reliability of their troops and functionaires.

Making Europe Unconquerable contains 7 chapters entitled

1. Meeting Europe's defense needs
2. [Civilian-based defense for Western Europe?
3. Transarmament
4. Preventing attack
5. In face of attack
6. Defeating attack
7. Assessing the potential The book also contains a bibliography (12 pages) and an index (24 pages).

Reviews and influence

Reviews have appeared in the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Foreign Affairs, International Affairs, Journal of Peace Research, and elsewhere.

In the New York Review of Books, George F. Kennan, widely viewed as a major architect of the US approach to the Cold War, wrote that Sharp's "primary purpose in writing the book was... 'to make civilian-based deterrence and defense a thinkable policy which is recognized as meriting further research, policy studies, and an evaluation.' And for this, he makes a reasonably good case." Kennan stated that "the view advanced in this book deserves consideration, if only because of the bankruptcy of all the visible alternatives to it." Kennan viewed Sharp's approach as requiring

Kennan wondered "whether, if this change in political philosophy were to take place, it might not have wider effects than just those that relate to the concepts of national security—whether many other things might not also change, and, in the main, usefully so," and advised that Sharp

In the New York Times, Karl E. Meyer described the book as "reflective," and stated that "there is considerable merit to [Sharp's] contention that 'all peoples can with effort make themselves politically indigestable to would-be tyrants.'" Meyer also argued that Sharp's approach "has its flaws... If the stakes are deemed sufficiently vital, civilian resistance seems unlikely to dissuade a determined aggressor."

In Foreign Affairs, Andrew Pierre wrote that

The value of this thoughtful work is in the alternative it suggests: ‘civilian defense’ through advance training for such actions against an intruder as mass public demonstrations, boycotts and strikes, demoralization of enemy troops, and the like.

He added that "The author's proposals go against the grain of mainstream thinking, and to this reviewer leave many questions unanswered, but they are carefully put forward in a nonpolemical manner and clearly merit sustained attention and thought" (p. 873).

Ted Taylor, himself a former designer of nuclear weapons, reviewed the book in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He quoted Einstein:

He added that "The side effects of pursuing a civilian-based defense strategy are especially interesting, since they tend to be beneficial in peacetime. This is a book that should be read attentively by anyone seriously searching for new ways of thinking about how we can stop our "drift toward unparalleled catastrophe." (p. 56).

Editions

English language editions:

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Foreign (non-English) language editions:

• Dutch: Gene Sharp (1988). Naar een onveroverbaar Europa: de kracht van civiele afschrikking en sociale verdediging (met een voorw. van George F. Kennan; vert. uit het Engels: Peter Kruijt et al.). Antwerpen, Netherlands: Internationale Vredesinformatiedienst, 1988. ()
• Italian: Gene Sharp (1989). Verso un'Europa inconquistabile (introduzione di G. Pasquino). Bergamo, Italy: Gruppo Abele, 1989. Edizione italiana a cura di Fulvio Cesare Manara. ()

References

References

1. Kennan, George F. (1986). ["A new philosophy of defense review of Making Europe unconquerable, by Gene Sharp". New York Review of Books.
2. Meyer, Karl E. (April 20, 1986). "People power and superpowers [review of Making Europe unconquerable, by Gene Sharp]". The New York Times.
3. Taylor, Theodore B. (1987). "Making europe unconquerable: The potential of civilian-based deterrence and defense by Gene Sharp". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
4. Pierre, Andrew J. (1986). "Making Europe unconquerable: The potential of civilian-based deterrence and defense [book review]". Foreign Affairs.
5. Harbottle, Michael. (1986–1987). "Making Europe Unconquerable (book review)". International Affairs.
6. Thee, Marek. (1986). "[Review of Making Europe Unconquerable, by Gene Sharp]". Journal of Peace Research.