Pacifists & Spies

A major United Nations mission is to help resolve conflicts between nations peacefully. The UN General Assembly voted in 2007 to observe the International Day of Non-Violence each year on October 2, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. Ghandi, like Martin Luther King, was an honest and courageous leader whose commitment to passive resistance was unequivocal.

But your students can learn about people whose commitment to peaceful tactics may have been more pragmatic. The open-ended cease-fire, which the Irish Republican Army (IRA) declared in 1994, paved the way for the talks that produced the Good Friday Agreement four years later.

The lion's share of the credit for the 1994 cease-fire has traditionally been given to John Hume, a supporter of Northern Ireland's continued union with the United Kingdom, who worked tirelessly to persuade leaders of the IRA's political wing, Sinn Fein, that they could best pursue their ambitions through the ballot. Hume, who later won a Nobel Peace Prize, had opposed violence all his life.



SINN FEIN LEADERS MARTIN MCGUINNESS AND
GERRY ADAMS REFUSE TO TAKE THEIR SEATS
IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT
London -- © 1997 Getty Images, Inc.

However, some historians feel that this story, while neat, overstates Hume's importance in Northern Ireland's peace process and ignores what they regard as a more vital contribution, which was made by a former Catholic priest and an agent from Britain's MI5 (the intelligence agency that combines elements of America's CIA and FBI). Here's their alternative narrative:

• Denis Bradley, the former Catholic priest, joined forces with an agent from MI5 to forge a letter from IRA leader Martin McGuinness.
• The letter, which contained the line "The conflict is over, but we need your advice on how to bring it to a close," was sent to British prime minister John Major in February 1993.
• Prime Minister Major responded positively to the note, initiating a series of top-secret talks between MI5 and the IRA.
• The IRA was willing to go along with the ruse and enter talks because its leadership knew that the organization was riddled with informers and that its commitment to terrorist tactics was fatally compromising the electoral ambitions of its political wing, Sinn Fein.

This account, while it may be true, is messier than the Humes-as-protagonist account. Neither of the key figures in this account was known for a commitment to nonviolence. And the IRA's ultimate motivation in disarming had less to do with its leadership having been convinced by arguments to join the political process and everything to do with (justified) fears that spies were operating within its ranks.

Read through the history sections of the Northern Ireland report in World Conflicts Today. Then write a 250-word response to the following essential question for critical thinking:

• Which of the following approaches played the greater role in bringing the IRA to the negotiating table: peaceful negotiations or undercover police work?

SPREAD THE WORD: SUBSCRIPTION KITS @ PROQUEST


Explore geography, world conflict, and science themes in new ways...