Talking to Terrorists : Making Peace in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country

by Bew, John

• ISBN13: 9780231154185
• ISBN10: 0231154186
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-06-30
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

Northern Ireland's peace agreement, which put an end to IRA aggression, has been widely admired as a stellar model of conflict resolution. It is believed that Britain avoided rigid preconditions in its meeting with the IRA, a move that encouraged other governments to seek similar sit-downs with extremist groups. Whether in Spain, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, or Iraq, many now believe that intelligence agencies should follow the lessons of Ulster in their efforts at brokering peace.Yet two difficult questions remain: has history provided us with a clear picture of Northern Ireland's peace process, and does the "talking cure" work with all democracies? The authors of this volume not only present an unbiased history of Northern Ireland's transition from aggression to peace, but they also demonstrate how these events developed quite differently than many proponents of the Northern Ireland model believe. Through their expert research, they then contrast their findings against incidents in Spain's Basque country during the same period.The authors point to a range of variables at play in the Ulster negotiations, such as the selection of state representatives, the information provided by intelligence agencies, the wielding of hard power, and the wider democratic process. Above all, they draw a line between talking to terrorists who believe their strategy is succeeding and making overtures to those who realize their aims are no longer attainable through violent means. At a time when Ulster is experiencing a resurgence in violence, Talking to Terroristsoffers a vital reassessment of the basis on which peace was initially established.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
Abbreviations and Acronyms	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The British State in Northern Ireland: Between Democracy and Terrorism
Intervention and Oscillation: British Policy, 1968-1974	p. 21
Background to the Crisis	p. 21
The British state responds	p. 28
Talking to Terrorists I	p. 39
Towards a new approach: building the moderate alliance	p. 43
The Pendulum swings back: Talking to Terrorists II	p. 49
Drift: the final months of the Wilson Premiership	p. 58
The Long War, 1975-1990	p. 63
Settling in for the Long Haul: from Rees to Mason	p. 63
The IRA responds: `The Long War'	p. 73
Borders and Statecraft: Anglo-Irish Relations	p. 76
Thatcher and Haughey: First Openings and Another Failure for Devolution	p. 81
The Hunger Strikes: Talking to Terrorists III	p. 86
Towards the Anglo-Irish Agreement, 1981-5	p. 93
The Peace Process	p. 107
Towards an end to violence	p. 107
Talking to Terrorists IV	p. 112
The Battle over Preconditions	p. 123
Towards the Agreement	p. 130
The Good Friday Agreement	p. 144
Post-Agreement	p. 149
Acts of completion	p. 154
The Final Act?	p. 159
ETA in Spain and the Basque Country: Rise, Decline and the Politics of Surrender
Birth, Resistance and the Assault on Liberty	p. 169
Origins	p. 169
The Urgency of Youth	p. 176
ETA under Franco	p. 178
ETA in `The Transition'	p. 182
Enemies of Liberty	p. 187
Talking to ETA	p. 195
The Long War and the French Connection: ETA re-evaluates, the state murders	p. 195
The Algerian Connection: Killing and Talking	p. 206
The Irish Connection: Peace Processing or Slow Defeat?	p. 215
The Irish Connection Revisited: The Last Peace Process?	p. 227
Conclusion	p. 239
Notes	p. 261
Bibliography	p. 295
Index	p. 309
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.