Editing Gene Sharp (section)

==Influence on struggles worldwide<!---Please keep the following anchor template with the influence information, even if the section name is changed: anchor is used for the navigation sidebar--->{{Anchor|ANCHOR-Influence}}==
Sharp has been called both the "[[Machiavelli]] of nonviolence"<ref name=flintoff2013/> and the "[[Clausewitz]] of nonviolent warfare."<ref name=Weber04>{{cite book | last = Weber | first = Thomas|title = Gandhi as Disciple and Mentor|publisher= Cambridge University Press |location =Cambridge| date =2 December 2004|oclc=252532988|isbn = 9780521842303| url = https://archive.org/details/gandhiasdisciple0000webe | url-access = registration | quote = Gandhi as disciple and mentor.|page =[[iarchive:gandhiasdisciple000webe/page/232|232]]|df= mdy-all}}</ref> It is claimed by some{{Who|date=August 2021}} that Sharp's scholarship has influenced resistance organizations around the world. His works remain the ideological underpinning of the work for the Serbian-based nonviolent conflict training group the [[Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies]] which helped to train the key activists in the protest movement that toppled President Mubarak of Egypt, and many other earlier youth movements in the [[Eastern European]] [[color revolutions]].{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Sharp's 1993 handbook ''[[From Dictatorship to Democracy]]''<ref name=sharpfdtd>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ThfnNG68vMC|title=From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209144939/http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/FDTD.pdf|archive-date=February 9, 2006|publisher=The Albert Einstein Institution|year=2003|oclc=265896720|isbn=9781880813096}}[http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/FDTD.pdf PDF version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209144939/http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/FDTD.pdf |date=February 9, 2006 }}</ref> was first published in Burma, fourth edition in 2010.  It has since been translated into at least 31 other languages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/FDTD.pdf |title=From Dictatorship To Democracy|access-date=2006-02-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209144939/http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/FDTD.pdf |archive-date=February 9, 2006 |df=mdy }}</ref> It has served as a basis for the campaigns of [[Serbia]]'s [[Otpor!]] (who were also directly trained by the Albert Einstein Institution{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}), [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]'s [[Kmara]], [[Kyrgyzstan]]'s [[KelKel]] and [[Belarus]]' [[Zubr (political organization)|Zubr]]. {{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}[[PORA]]'s Oleh Kyriyenko said in a 2004 interview with Radio Netherlands,

:"The bible of Pora has been the book of Gene Sharp, also used by [[Otpor!]], it's called: [[From Dictatorship to Democracy]]. Pora activists have translated it by themselves. We have written to Mr Sharp and to the Albert Einstein Institute in the United States, and he became very sympathetic towards our initiative, and the Institution provided funding to print over 12,000 copies of this book for free."<ref name="Radio Netherlands">{{cite news | url=http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/easterneurope/ukr041125 | title=Radio Netherlands | access-date=2011-02-13 | date=February 13, 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920093255/http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/easterneurope/ukr041125 | archive-date=September 20, 2008 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Sharp's writings on "[[Civilian-based defense]]"<ref>[See, for example, {{cite web |url=http://aeinstein.org/organizationsd7c2.html |title=Civilian-Based Defense|access-date=2006-01-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060404183000/http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsd7c2.html |archive-date=April 4, 2006 |df=mdy-all }} Sharp, Gene] ''Civilian-based Defense''</ref> were used by the Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian governments during their separation from the [[Soviet Union]] in 1991. Lithuanian Defence Minister Audrius Butkevicius declared at the time, "I would rather have this book than the nuclear bomb".<ref name="rightlivelihood.org"/>

The Iranian government charged protesters against alleged fraud in the 2009 elections with following Gene Sharp's tactics. The Tehran Times reported: "According to the indictment, a number of the accused confessed that the post-election unrest was preplanned and the plan was following the timetable of the velvet revolution to the extent that over 100 stages of the 198 steps of Gene Sharp were implemented in the foiled velvet revolution."<ref>[Tehran Times, August 2, 2009, {{cite web |url=http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=200033 |title=Trial of Iran detainees held|date=August 2009 |access-date=2009-08-02 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815122257/http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=200033 |archive-date=August 15, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}]</ref>

Former members of the IRA are reported to be studying his work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/your-democracy/2013/01/gene-sharp-machiavelli-non-violence|title=Gene Sharp: The Machiavelli of non-violence|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112095409/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/your-democracy/2013/01/gene-sharp-machiavelli-non-violence|archive-date=November 12, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Sharp and his work have been profiled in numerous media;<ref name=cnn2012>For example, a profile by [[CNN]], written by Mairi Mackay (June 25, 2012). [http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/23/world/gene-sharp-revolutionary/index.html "Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625174447/http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/23/world/gene-sharp-revolutionary/index.html |date=June 25, 2012 }}, CNNWorld (accessed June 27, 2012).</ref> however, some have claimed Sharp's influence has been exaggerated by Westerners looking for a [[Lawrence of Arabia]] figure.<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/world/middleeast/14egypt-tunisia-protests.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1297656097-vGFYS7755whguQSAOstilA | title=A Tunisian-Egyptian Link That Shook Arab History | access-date=2011-02-13 | last1=Kirkpatrick | first1=David | last2=Sanger | first2=David | date=February 13, 2011 | work=New York Times | page=1 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210183656/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/world/middleeast/14egypt-tunisia-protests.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1297656097-vGFYS7755whguQSAOstilA | archive-date=December 10, 2011 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name=Reason>[[Jesse Walker|Walker, Jesse]] (February 25, 2011) [http://reason.com/archives/2011/02/25/teaching-people-power/singlepage Teaching People Power] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301100931/http://reason.com/archives/2011/02/25/teaching-people-power/singlepage |date=March 1, 2011 }}, ''[[Reason magazine|Reason]]''</ref>

===Influence in Egypt===
Coverage of Gene Sharp's influence in the Egyptian revolution produced a backlash from some Egyptian bloggers. One, journalist [[Hossam el-Hamalawy]], stated that "Not only was Mubarak's foreign policy hated and despised by the Egyptian people, but parallels were always drawn between the situation of the Egyptian people and their Palestinian brothers and sisters. The latter have been the major source of inspiration, not Gene Sharp, whose name I first heard in my life only in February after we toppled Mubarak already and whom the clueless [[The New York Times|''NYT'']] moronically gives credit for our uprising."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arabawy.org/2011/04/17/fm-nabil-fahmy-this-revolution-actually-serves-israel-as-well/ |title=Nabil Fahmy: 'This revolution actually serves Israel as well' |access-date=2011-04-28 |date=April 17, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425220549/http://www.arabawy.org/2011/04/17/fm-nabil-fahmy-this-revolution-actually-serves-israel-as-well/ |archive-date=April 25, 2011 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Another Egyptian writer and activist, [[Karim Alrawi]], argued that Gene Sharp's writings are more about regime change than revolution. He defines the latter as having an ethical as well as a material dimension that Sharp deliberately avoids engaging with, and credits local circumstances and the spark provided by the Tunisian revolution for the Egyptian success.<ref>Karim Alrawi, [http://www.karimalrawi.com/writer/Writers_Blog/Entries/2012/4/3_The_Hype_that_is_Gene_Sharp_I.html "Gene Sharp & Egypt's Revolution"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809071515/http://www.karimalrawi.com/writer/Writers_Blog/Entries/2012/4/3_The_Hype_that_is_Gene_Sharp_I.html |date=August 9, 2012}}</ref>

However, evidence and testimony from four different activist groups working in Egypt at the time of the revolution contradict these claims. [[Dalia Ziada]], an Egyptian blogger and activist, said that activists translated excerpts of Sharp's work into Arabic, and that his message of "attacking weaknesses of dictators" stuck with them.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/world/middleeast/17sharp.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |work=The New York Times |title=Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution |date=February 16, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228181835/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/world/middleeast/17sharp.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |archive-date=February 28, 2017 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> [[Ahmed Maher (youth leader)|Ahmed Maher]], a leader of the April 6 democracy group, also stated in the [[How to Start a Revolution]] documentary, "Gene Sharp's books had a huge impact" among other influences.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/155/transcript_155.pdf |title=How to Start a Revolution - transcripts|access-date=2013-02-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105174920/http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/155/transcript_155.pdf |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The Associated Press reported as early as September 2010 more than four months before the revolution that Gene Sharp's work was being used by activists in Egypt close to political leader [[Mohamed ElBaradei]].<ref name=deeb10>Sara El Deeb (Sep 16, 2010), [https://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/9267868 "Egypt's youth build new opposition movement"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224154953/http://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/9267868 |date=December 24, 2014 }}, ''[[The Guardian]]'', (accessed December 3, 2011)</ref> Finally ''The New York Times'' reported that Sharp's book ''[[From Dictatorship to Democracy]]'' had been posted by the Muslim Brotherhood on its website during the [[2011 Egyptian revolution]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/world/middleeast/17sharp.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all|title=Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution|date=December 16, 2011|work=New York Times|access-date=December 18, 2011|first=Sheryl Gay|last=Stolberg|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114043516/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/world/middleeast/17sharp.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all|archive-date=January 14, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>