Local base opposition can win concessions but not full withdrawal
Evidence
Though the No Dal Molin movement failed to stop the construction of the new base in Vicenza, it did win a concession. The U.S. military agreed to move the base from its originally planned location at the civilian airport on the east side of the Dal Molin site to a former Italian Air Force base on the site’s west side. The mayor declared the eastern half would be a permanent “Peace Park,” although the city hasn’t decided yet what it will look like. The antibase activists themselves are divided about what this park represents. Several neighborhood associations, who see the entire Dal Molin site as space stolen from Vicenza’s people, regard the park as a reminder of the movement’s defeat. Others see it as a tangible victory, a “beautiful space,” and “a peaceful provocation” to the new base—a way of constantly reminding the soldiers that there is another way to live, one that does not revolve around making war. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 939
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
Related
- Antibase movements can win concessions even when they lose the main fight (similarity 0.94)
- Base opposition movements achieve mixed, non-clear-cut results globally (similarity 0.84)
- Local protest can stop new base construction even when it cannot close existing bases (similarity 0.84)
- A reform organization could win respect for principle while losing every major fight (similarity 0.83)
- Base expansion plans in conservative regions can trigger broad, diverse protest coalitions (similarity 0.80)
- New base plans united ideologically opposed Italian groups (similarity 0.79)
- Local sovereignty norms weaken local opposition to foreign bases regardless of public sentiment. (similarity 0.78)
- Most Vicenza residents opposed the new U.S. base and wanted a referendum (similarity 0.78)