Terrorists at the Table

April 13, 2015
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. Agent: Natasha Fairweather, United Agents.

Starred review from April 1, 2015
A road map for the fraught, fragile road to possible peace with terrorist organizations. British diplomat Powell (The New Machiavelli: How to Wield Power in the Modern World, 2010, etc.), who served as Tony Blair's chief of staff, has worked as an international negotiator for nearly two decades with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue based in Geneva and his own NGO, Inter Mediate. The author argues emphatically that negotiation is the only way to deal with terrorists, however morally repugnant that idea may seem. Rather than debate political theory, he offers pragmatic advice: practical steps for making contact with terrorists, building trust, handling third parties, working through the process of talks, and fostering implementation of agreements. Beyond addressing those few who may be actively involved in future negotiations, he responds to the concerns of many who believe that terrorism must be quashed by military force, that bringing terrorists to the table legitimizes their claims, that terrorists are psychopaths, and that negotiation can potentially undermine moderates and destabilize governments. Marshaling an overwhelming number of examples of terrorism in countries that include Sri Lanka, Colombia, South Africa, Spain, Peru, Israel, and Palestine, Powell emphasizes that talking to terrorists is not the same as conceding to their demands. He acknowledges repeatedly that negotiation is a delicate art requiring flexibility, strength, patience, and perseverance. As Shimon Peres once said, "the good news is there is a light at the end of the tunnel; the bad news is there is no tunnel." Negotiators do the arduous task of digging. Readers with ISIS in mind may feel dispirited when considering one scholar's assertion that the success of talks sometimes depends on the nature of the terrorists' organization, leadership, and their constituency's tolerance for ongoing violence; hierarchical groups with a strong leader have an advantage for successful negotiations over groups "that cannot control their members' actions" and are decentralized. Powell's urgent, reasoned, and impassioned argument for negotiation has the potential to contribute significantly to public debate.

Starred review from June 1, 2015

Many governments claim that they will not negotiate with terrorists. Powell (The New Machiavelli) argues that governments do end up negotiating, however, if the group involved has significant support politically. Unfortunately, governments usually wait too long to start negotiations, says the author, resulting in a larger number of unnecessary deaths. Powell is currently a negotiator for an NGO (nongovernmental organization), and prior to that he was Downing Street chief of staff to former British prime minister Tony Blair, playing a major role in the peace talks with the IRA. As someone on the inside of exactly these kinds of negotiations for many years, the author creates a strong argument for how and why negotiations must be made. Powell's book is unusual because it addresses the practice of negotiating with terrorists, offering a how-to manual of sorts, from making contact with the enemy to building a channel, using a third party, and starting talks and keeping them going. The work considers negotiation successes and failures worldwide. Powell compares this process to bicycling--you might take a long time to get there, but you must keep pedaling. VERDICT Powell's compelling argument on a touchy topic makes one consider that without attempting to engage in negotiations, a resolution cannot be reached.--Krista Bush, Shelton, CT

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