The major unsolved political problems of our time—dictatorship, genocide, war, social oppression, popular powerlessness—may require us to rethink politics in order to develop fresh strategies and programs for their resolution. Dr. Sharp believes one such strategy is that of a "civilian-based defense" using noncooperation and defiance by a trained population of a society to deter and defeat internal takeovers and invasions. Dr. Sharp is the author of The Politics of Nonviolent Action, a classic study of nonviolent struggle.