Unarmed Civilian Defense Instead of War is a six-week online course developed by World BEYOND War and delivered through Canvas. Each of its six modules is facilitated by a practitioner or scholar working in the field.
Across three offerings through 2026, the course received more than 500 sign-ups from participants in more than 20 countries and territories.
World BEYOND War can also work with universities, schools, educators, and organizations interested in hosting or adapting the course. Contact us to discuss a partnership.
Explore all World BEYOND War online courses.
About Unarmed Civilian Defense Instead of War
This course addresses a central question: how can civilians protect their communities and resist invasion, occupation, repression, and other forms of violence without relying on war?
Prevention must remain the priority. But when violence occurs, communities also need credible ways to protect people, sustain essential services, resist aggression, and preserve their capacity for collective action. The course explores the principles, evidence, debates, and practical challenges surrounding unarmed civilian defense.
Across six learning modules, three optional live sessions, and an optional end-of-course strategy simulation, participants examine examples of civilian resistance and unarmed protection from different parts of the world. They consider what has worked, under what conditions, what limitations and risks remain, and what preparation would be needed before a crisis begins.
The course is delivered entirely online. The weekly modules are asynchronous, allowing participants to engage at times that work for them. Each module includes text, images, video, and audio, together with discussion forums where participants and facilitators can ask questions, share experiences, and explore the course material. Facilitators also provide feedback on optional assignments. Both the optional Zoom sessions and the end-of-course strategy simulation take place at scheduled times.
How the Course Works
1) Six-week Online Course:
The course consists of six core modules:
Module 1: Unarmed Civilian Defense: What is it?
Explore the foundations, features, and benefits of UCD, and question dominant assumptions about security — including the belief that militaries are essential for peace. Reflect on the nature of power and how to move from the traditional practices of “power over” towards more collaborative approaches of “power with” in building cooperative, people-centered defense.
Module 2: What Has UCD done thus far, and what potential does it have?
Examine the growing body of evidence showing how UCD has worked — from preventing coups in Asia to resisting occupation in Europe, achieving reforms in Latin America, and toppling dictatorships in Africa. Analyze what made these movements effective and what lessons can inform today’s conflicts, including in places such as Ukraine, Palestine, and beyond. Understand the conditions under which civilian resistance can protect lives, defend democracy, and transform societies.
Module 3: What can individuals and organizations do?
Reflect on your journey toward being and becoming a peacebuilder. Explore practical frameworks for planning, implementing, and evaluating UCD interventions. Gain tools for effective nonviolent strategy, from community organizing to monitoring and assessing impact, and consider how individuals and groups can act decisively in times of crisis.
Module 4: What can governments do?
Explore how some governments — including Costa Rica and Iceland, which maintain peace without militaries, and the Baltic states, which developed unarmed defense plans after Soviet occupation — have advanced UCD principles in practice. Examine how governments can enable, invest in, and collaborate on nonviolent strategies for national defense. For balance, analyze shifting neutrality in countries such as Sweden and Finland, and consider how public pressure and civic engagement can counter trends toward re-militarization.
Module 5: What is the role of communications and media in effective UCD?
Examine how communications and media shape public understanding of war and peace, exposing common myths such as the idea that military alliances or armed strength make us secure. Gain tools and strategies for effective storytelling, writing, digital engagement, and public advocacy. Learn how to counter propaganda, convey complex information clearly, and amplify peace-focused narratives that engage and inspire diverse audiences.
Module 6: Putting it all together
Review the ideas and insights from across the course and plan next steps for applying UCD principles in your context. Consider the future of nonviolent defense, and explore ways to sustain and strengthen your engagement in the global movement to end all wars, after the course finishes.
2) Three Interactive Live Sessions:
Three optional one-hour Zoom sessions give participants opportunities to discuss key questions with facilitators and peers, clarify uncertainties, exchange perspectives, and connect the course material to their own contexts.
3) End-of-Course Strategy Simulation
Apply your learning through a structured three-hour online strategy simulation. Working in small groups representing governmental, civil-society, and international actors, participants respond to an escalating fictional crisis in which military defense is taken off the table.
Across several rounds, groups assess the situation, identify priorities, communicate their decisions, respond to the actions of other groups, and adapt as circumstances change. The exercise gives participants opportunities to practise strategic thinking, teamwork, communication, negotiation, problem-solving, and decision-making under pressure. It also helps surface assumptions, gaps in preparation, and the relationships and systems that would need to be established before a crisis occurs.
Learning from the 2026 Course
Two public write-ups share what participants valued, how they moved from learning to practical decision-making, and what we learned for future courses and simulations.
More Than 500 Sign Up for World BEYOND War Courses on Unarmed Civilian Defense
What participants valued—and what we learned from the 2026 online course.
Strategy Simulation Helps Participants Think Through Defense Without War
How a course-linked exercise moved unarmed civilian defense from concept to decision-making under pressure.
Course Highlights
The course is designed to help participants:
- Understand unarmed civilian defense. Explore its principles, evidence, debates, possibilities, and limitations.
- Learn from real-world experience. Examine cases of civilian resistance, nonviolent action, and unarmed protection from different contexts.
- Think strategically. Consider power, actors, sequencing, communication, risks, trade-offs, and preparation.
- Apply the learning. Use discussions, assignments, and the strategy simulation to connect ideas with practical choices.
- Communicate effectively. Develop ways to explain evidence, challenge assumptions, and advocate for alternatives to war.
- Connect across contexts. Learn with participants and facilitators bringing different experiences of peace, conflict, organizing, education, and security.
Who Is the Course For?
This course is designed for anyone interested in how unarmed civilian defense can advance a more peaceful, secure, and just world. It is ideal for:
- Educators teaching about peace, nonviolence, and alternatives to war and militarism.
- Activists and organizers leading or supporting civil resistance movements.
- Researchers and scholars studying the theory, philosophy, or evidence of nonviolent action.
- Consultants and practitioners advising on peacebuilding, disarmament, or human security.
- Communicators and creatives producing content that informs and inspires change.
- Students and members of the public seeking credible alternatives to war and militarized approaches to security.
Whether you are new to this field or seeking to deepen existing knowledge, the course offers evidence, practical tools, critical discussion, and international perspectives that can inform your work.
Time Commitment and Participation
Participants can choose how deeply they engage. As a guide, allow:
- 1–2 hours per week to review the core module content;
- an additional 1–3 hours per week to participate in discussions; and
- around 2 further hours per week to complete the assignments, if pursuing a certificate.
Participants completing the weekly content, discussions, and assignments should therefore expect to spend approximately 4–7 hours per week. The optional live sessions and three-hour strategy simulation require additional time.
Registration, Access, and Certificates
After registering, participants receive instructions explaining how to access the course through Canvas.
To earn a certificate, participants must complete the required weekly assignments by the course deadline. Facilitators provide feedback on submitted work. Participants can choose whether their submissions and feedback are visible to the wider course group or remain private between them and the facilitator.
Interested in hosting or adapting the course? Contact us to discuss a partnership.