Jonathan Powell Presents Talk on Negotiating with Armed Groups

At a recent seminar, co-hosted by the College of Public Policy and College of Law, Jonathan Powell, Britain’s former chief negotiator in Northern Ireland and chief-of-staff under Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed points from his book, “Talking to Terrorists: How to End Armed Conflicts”.

Drawing on lessons learned from conflicts around the world, including Afghanistan and Iraq, Powell argued that there is no alternative to inclusive peace negotiations in any conflict. This applies as much to radical Islamist groups as it did to earlier armed groups.

The talk was held in Minaretein and was well attended by invited faculty and students, who had the opportunity to engage him on his wider experiences of conflict resolution, dialogue, and mediation, which are detailed in his book.