Download or read book Opting Out of War written by Mary B. Anderson and published by Lynne Rienner Pub. This book was released on 2013 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do ordinary people, neither pacifists nor peace activists, come to decide collectively to eschew violent conflict and then develop strategies for maintaining their region as a nonwar area despite myriad pressures to the contrary?Mary Anderson and Marshall Wallace analyze the experiences of thirteen nonwar communities that made conscious-and effective-choices not to engage in the fighting that surrounded them. Tracing the steps that these communities took, the strategies that evolved in each setting in response to local circumstances, the authors find lessons, as well, with broader relevance for international efforts to prevent violent conflict.