Service Without Guns

Please see below for a new book on youth policy and service along the lines recommended by Winston Peters.

Service Without Guns

By Donald J. Eberly and Reuven Gal with a guest chapter by Michael Sherraden

Published by Lulu Press in 2006
Available Worldwide

Order direct from publisher at www.lulu.com
Also available from amazon.com

Hardcover ISBN 978-1-4116-8080-7 USD25.00
Softcover ISBN 1-4116-7283-6 USD13.70
Download ISBN 1-4116-7283 USD5.00

Review excerpts and chapter headings:

"... a thoughtful and timely contribution to the discussion of the role that civilian service can play in a world in which military activities and war have been at the forefront of many people's lives on a daily basis." Prof. Jennifer Iles, Voluntary Action

"By drawing parallels between military and civilian service, this book abounds in fresh insights. The great strength of Don Eberly and Reuven Gal is placing youth service - whether international, national, or local - in a cross- national perspective." Prof. Charles Moskos

"With heaps of experience, knowledge, and conviction, the writers have presented to us in great detail the concept of youth service, its impact, and future...." Ali Raza Khan, director of the Pakistan National Youth Service

"... a thoughtful and well-researched book.... It describes the 20th century phenomena of declines in conscription-based armies, humanitarian missions performed by military organizations, and other linkages between military and non-military service." Bryant Wieneke, Peace Corps Writers group

Chapter headings and lead paragraphs

CHAPTER 1

MILITARY SERVICE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY

The first responsibility of states - as it was to the clans and tribes and fiefdoms that preceded them - is the protection of their people, whether from wild animals or invading armies. For thousands of years, societies have mobilized their young men, trained them, and equipped them with the weapons of the time. During the latter half of the 20th Century, rapid advances in technology as well as massive political changes have permitted countries to reduce the size of their armies while increasing their firepower.

CHAPTER 2

LINKAGES BETWEEN CIVIC AND MILITARY SERVICE IN THE 20TH CENTURY

This chapter examines the development of various modes of civic service during the 20th Century in the five countries that have had the most substantial efforts; namely, the United States, Germany, China, Israel, and Nigeria. It is worth noting that although they are in various parts of the world, in each of these countries there have been significant linkages between civic and military service.

CHAPTER 3

TRENDS TOWARD NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE

The gradual growth of NYS has been a multi- faceted process, stemming from various sources and involving diverse routes, sometimes as an alternative to military service, and at other times related to nation-building, education, employment, and service delivery. Also, the perception of volunteer service has expanded to include NYS; international service has grown, and certain regional trends have become discernible. Taken together, they appear to represent a trend toward the growth of NYS.

CHAPTER 4

BEST PRACTICES OF NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE

The basic features of NYS bear a striking resemblance to those of military service. They include provisions for recruitment, training, placement, and financial support. And they include issues, such as making the service voluntary or compulsory, deciding on the duration of service, and providing for post-service opportunities. This chapter examines these features and suggests the consequences of different choices. But first we must ask the question, as it is often asked about the military, what is the purpose of NYS?

CHAPTER 5

THE SPECIAL CASE OF SERVICE-LEARNING

Training for military service has always been based more heavily on experiential than on passive education. Following the introduction of universal education in many countries, experiential education was somewhat neglected. However, the latter decades of the 20th Century saw a swing back toward experiential education, particularly in the form of service-learning, which not only reinforces classroom education but delivers services to those in need and fosters the adoption of positive values by the students who serve.

CHAPTER 6

NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE AS A PSYCHO-SOCIAL PROCESS

Veterans of military service sometimes refer to it as the best years of their lives. They say it helped them to mature, to discover themselves, to learn comradeship and cooperation. NYS also yields a range of psychological and social outcomes, a number of which parallel those in military service.

CHAPTER 7

THE SERVICE IMPACT OF NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE

Military service came into being not for the benefit of the soldiers but for the results it would produce, whether to defend the nation or to conquer other lands. Service delivery is always a vital part of NYS, and often the activities of cadets are as arduous as those in military service. But where Chapter 6 notes a number of similarities in the impact on the individual of military service and NYS, the service impacts of NYS are quite unlike those of military service.

CHAPTER 8

YOUTH SERVICE AS STRONG POLICY

By Michael Sherraden

Governments and the societies they serve benefit from policies which produce multiple benefits. One example is military service. It is useful not only to defend a nation and to project its interests worldwide; it also helps to build a nation through the involvement of young people from all walks of life, and gives educational and maturational benefits to the soldiers. NYS is another example of what Michael Sherraden refers to as strong policy.

CHAPTER 9 A POTENTIAL ROLE FOR NYS IN COMMUNITY RECONSTRUCTION AND INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING

War and the threat of war lead nations to increase their military budgets, to prepare its citizens to fight the perceived enemy, and to mobilize its young people to do battle with other young people on the front lines. Wars have consequences lasting far beyond the end of the battle. Young people in NYS can play a vital role in post-war community reconstruction, in maintaining peace in tense situations, and perhaps in preventing war. In many places torn apart by conflict and war, the civic muscles that hold together the fabric of society have not only been weakened but elements of civic society have been disrupted, if not destroyed.

CHAPTER 10

PRACTICAL MEASURES TO ADVANCE NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE

During the second half of the 20th Century, many countries moved from conscription to a volunteer military, and many of those which retained conscription made provision for conscientious objection and alternative civilian service (ACS). Also, a number of countries introduced NYS programs unrelated to military service. As countries discover the value of NYS through their experiences with ACS or with other service programs, they may wish to institute NYS as a major public policy. What measures can they take to ensure that NYS has both positive and substantial impact on society and on the lives of young people?

CHAPTER 11

CONCLUSION

To a large extent in recent centuries, employment has replaced serfdom and slavery, education of the masses has replaced boarding schools for the few, and democracy has replaced dictatorships and colonial domination. It now appears that military service is being replaced to some degree by various forms of civic service. Given the constructive impacts of NYS on those who are served, on the cadets who serve, and on communities and nations, that is a trend that should be continued within the boundaries of quality control.

ENDS

© Scoop Media