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From jungle clearings to stately homes and anonymous airport hotels, Talking to Terrorists puts us in the room with those who seek to change the course of history. Here are the terrorists, secret agents and go-betweens who make up the invisible world of negotiations between terrorists and governments.
Across the world governments proclaim that they will never 'negotiate with evil'. And yet they always have done and always will. Why then do we ignore the lessons of this history of clandestine communication, often with devastating consequences?
Jonathan Powell has spent nearly two decades mediating between governments and terrorist organisations. Here he argues that no conflict - however bloody, ancient or difficult - is insoluble. With attention to the lessons of the past, patience and above all political leadership, they can be solved, even where previous attempts have failed.
Talking to terrorists will always be practically difficult and morally hazardous. But it is the right thing to do. Drawing on conflicts from Colombia and Sri Lanka to Palestine and South Africa, this optimistic, wide-ranging, authoritative book is about why we should and how best to go about it.
About the author
Jonathan Powell worked for the Foreign Office for fifteen years until, in 1994, Tony Blair poached him to join his 'kitchen cabinet' as his Chief of Staff. After Labour achieved its landslide victory in 1997, Powell spent ten years in government talking to the leaders of the IRA in safe houses across Belfast, Derry and Dublin. Since leaving Number 10 he has worked with a Geneva-based NGO, negotiating between governments and terrorist groups in Europe, Asia and Africa, and has now established his own NGO, InterMediate, to continue this work. InterMediate is already active in six countries.
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Essential reading for all parties in conflict Patrick Cockburn Independent
