Terrorists at the Table
Why Negotiating is the Only Way to Peace
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Should governments talk to terrorists? Do they have any choice?
Without doing so, argues author Jonathan Powell in Terrorists at the Table, we will never end armed conflict. As violent insurgencies continue to erupt across the globe, we need people who will brave the depths of the Sri Lankan jungle and scale the heights of the Colombian mountains, painstakingly tracking down the heavily armed and dangerous 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, Presidents, secret agents and intermediaries—exposing the subterranean world of secret exchanges between governments and armed groups 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 if we are prepared to learn from the lessons of the past.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Powell (Great Hatred, Little Room), U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair's onetime chief of staff and a leader in the U.K. government's successful negotiations with the Irish Republican Army, takes readers to the front lines of secret talks between terrorists and governments throughout the world. Adept at refuting arguments for why governments should not talk to terrorists, Powell convincingly asserts that all armed groups with "significant political support" must be talked to, and that governments often wait too long to do so and erroneously prioritize military responses instead. Drawing on both the successes (Northern Ireland, South Africa, El Salvador) and failures (Sri Lanka, Colombia, the post Oslo Accords Middle East) of the past 20 years, Powell finds a "remarkable pattern" to what works. He highlights the traits of a good negotiator (patience, flexibility, a "high tolerance for ambiguity") and the necessary steps: making contact, starting negotiations, building trust, and closing a deal. Along the way, he vividly recreates the subterranean world of secret talks, depicting presidents, leaders of armed groups, and intermediaries in remote jungles, farmhouses, and huts around the globe. Powell probes the origins of terrorism (a term first coined during the French Revolution) and studies the effects of the International Criminal Court and the Patriot Act on present-day negotiations. Thoughtful, comprehensive, and illuminating, Powell's book will leave readers with a renewed sense of hope for peace.
