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.
"Jonathan was my point man for ten long years on the negotiations on Northern Ireland. He was not only a great negotiator but also a brilliant strategist. The lessons he learned there have been put to good use in the work he now does between governments and armed groups around the world."
