John Fairfield - PhD Research Fellow at Eastern Mennonite University

It is argued that for international conflict, and for many conflict situationswithin a nation, both coercion and evasion should be abandoned in favor of anew alternative tactic dubbed courageous courtship. By coercion isunderstood violence or any other form of dominant control or forcing theenemy against their will, including many methods often described as nonviolent such as economic sanctions, majority rule, and the rule of law.By evasion is understood appeasement, deception, self-exile, or any attempt torun away, cover up one s needs, or hide from the aggressor. To respond to theobvious objection ( If you can use neither coercion nor evasion, won t yourenemy just wipe you out ) the paper discusses the expected relativeperformances of courageous courtship, coercion and evasion relative toaccomplishing a desired goal: a just society. A just society is characterized asbeing a confrontational communion, implying a deep social commitmentwhereby no party attempts to evade conflict, and no party attempts to controlor coerce others--no one exercises control of the social situation. There isrespectful longstanding healthy opposition between parties that see the worlddifferently and come to different moral and ethical conclusions. No partyevades conflict, and no party coerces others. The parties commitment torenounce control provides safety for negotiation. Within a confrontationalcommunion, justice is the practical experience that negotiation with one sopponent produces positive results. The epistemological claim is made thatknowledge can only grow through the friction and tension arising fromconflicting points of view within a confrontational communion. Aconfrontational communion is a mutual (multilateral) commitment, butcourageous courtship is a toolbox of unilateral moves designed to induce anenemy into confrontational communion. Historical examples of the use ofcourageous courtship are described, and criteria for deciding when to usecourageous courtship, and when to trust to coercion or evasion, are given.

courageous courtship, dominant control, violence, confrontational communion