Talking to terrorists
Subtitle: how to end armed conflicts
By: Jonathan Powell
Publisher: The Bodley Head
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 408
ISBN-13: 9781847922298; 9781847922304; 9781448137527
Subjects: Negotiation; Terrorism; Prevention
Description: Should governments talk to terrorists? Should they 'negotiate with evil'? Without communication, argues Powell, we will never end conflict. As violent insurgencies continue to erupt across the globe, we need people who will brave the depths of the Mindanao jungle and scale the heights of the Colombian mountains, painstakingly tracking down the heavily armed, faceless leaders of these terrorist groups in order to open negotiations with them. Powell draws on his own experiences negotiating peace in Northern Ireland and talks to all the major players from the last thirty years, terrorists, secret agents and intermediaries exposing the subterranean world of secret exchanges between governments and terrorist organizations to give us the inside account of negotiations on the front line. These past negotiations shed light on how today's negotiators can tackle the Taliban, Hammas and al-Qaeda. And history tells us that it may be necessary to fight and talk at the same time. Ultimately, Powell brings us a message of hope: there is no armed conflict anywhere in the world that cannot be resolved.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 373-394) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Why we must talk to terrorists; title: Making contact with the enemy; title: Building a channel; title: How governments engage with terrorists; title: The third party; title: Starting a negotiation; title: The art of negotiation; title: Why do some negotiations succeed and others fail?; title: Only implementation creates trust; title: The lessons of history; title: The future.