What favours and what constraints the spread of anti-war and anti-militarist movements? The mobilizations against the US/NATO military bases in Sicily

For over forty years in Sicily, anti-war (no war) and anti-militarist movements have targeted the numerous US and NATO military bases present on the island since the Second World War, considered by protesters as tools and symbols of warmongering and imperialist policies. Since the movement of the early 1980s against the installation of NATO missiles in the Comiso base, now a civil airport, there have been countless mobilizations in front of the Sigonella base in opposition to the main war events: from the first Gulf War in 1991, to the second in 2003, up to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Furthermore, in the last decade, the No MUOS movement has opposed the geo-satellite communication system in the US Navy base in Niscemi. Therefore, a long history of mobilizations that have not always reached a mass dimension, which went beyond the participation of activists and movement organizations. In fact, if in few cases the protests involved tens of thousands of demonstrators – from Comiso in 1981-83, to Sigonella in 2003, up to Niscemi in 2013 - most anti-war mobilizations were attended only by activists from various movement organizations. Lastly, also the protest campaign against the war in Ukraine, despite the local activists have targeted the bases of Sigonella and Niscemi, has never acquired a mass dimension. Therefore, one wonders why most No War mobilizations have not spread among the population. Why did they only involve a few activists and organizations, despite the increase in the militarization of the territories, the risks that the presence of the bases entails for health and security of people? About the case of the Russian-Ukrainian war, why so little participation in the demonstrations, despite a public opinion largely opposed to the arms shipments and increased military spending? In this paper, after having synthetically reconstructed the main anti-war mobilizations in Sicily from the 80s onward, I will try to answer this research question. Based on previous research, reading documents and online sites, participant observation and some interviews with activists, I will identify which factors have facilitated and which hindered the spread of anti-militarist and anti-war protests in Sicily, beyond the restricted circle of the militants of social movement organizations.