political dialogue

Historic handshake in Belfast

by News Sources 06.27.2012

The Guardian reports: Anglo-Irish relations took a momentous step forward on Wednesday when the Queen shook hands with Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness. The historic encounter between the former IRA commander – now Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister – and the Queen was unthinkable a little over 10 years ago. But the success of the peace [...]

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Obama weighs talking to the Taliban, Hezbollah

by News Sources 03.18.2011

David Ignatius writes: In a rapidly changing Islamic world, the Obama administration is weighing how best to talk with adversaries such as the Taliban and, perhaps, Hezbollah. One model for the administration, as it thinks about engagement of enemies, is the British process of dialogue during the 1990s with Sinn Fein, the legal political wing [...]

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Talk to terrorists

by News Sources 12.12.2010

Thanassis Cambanis writes: Ronald Reagan framed the debate over whether to talk to terrorists in terms that still dominate the debate today. “America will never make concessions to terrorists. To do so would only invite more terrorism,” Reagan said in 1985. “Once we head down that path there would be no end to it, no [...]

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NEWS, CAMPAIGN 08 & EDITOR’S COMMENT: Talking to Iran

by Paul Woodward 05.22.2008

Petraeus: diplomacy, not force, with Iran By Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, May 22, 2008 Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, President Bush’s nominee to lead U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, supports continued U.S. engagement with international and regional partners to find the right mix of diplomatic, economic and military leverage to address [...]

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OPINION & EDITOR’S COMMENT: The belligerent power

by Paul Woodward 05.20.2008

Who’s the real appeaser? By Fareed Zacharia, Newsweek, May 26, 2008 President Bush chose an odd place and time to claim that talking to “terrorists and radicals” in the Middle East is like appeasing Hitler in the 1930s. As Bush was speaking in Israel, his preferred strategy against such adversaries was collapsing next door in [...]

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EDITORIAL: Talking to the enemy

by Paul Woodward 04.11.2008

Choosing the right battles By Paul Woodward, War in Context, April 11, 2008 In the world we’ve been forced to inhabit for the last eight years, international relations has become the arena in which buddies congregate to engage in grooming behavior based on fawning, flattery and patronization. Participants then, like dogs pissing against a lamppost, [...]

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NEWS & EDITOR’S COMMENT: Talking to Hamas

by Paul Woodward 04.10.2008

Former President Carter to meet with Hamas chief By Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, April 10, 2008 Former president Jimmy Carter plans to meet next week in Damascus with Khaled Meshal, the head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in a direct rebuke of the Bush administration’s campaign to isolate it. The disclosure of Carter’s plans [...]

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NEWS: Talking to terrorists

by Paul Woodward 03.15.2008

Terror talks: would contacting al-Qaida be a step too far? By Ian Black, The Guardian, March 15, 2008 [Jonathan Powell was Tony Blair's chief of staff for 12 years] Jonathan Powell’s candid reflections on talking to terrorists in his book revealing an insider’s view of the Northern Ireland peace process will ring true to anyone [...]

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NEWS & ANALYSIS: Developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan

by Paul Woodward 01.19.2008

Pakistan military retreats from Musharraf’s influence By Tim Johnson, McClatchy, January 18, 2008 As President Pervez Musharraf grows more unpopular in Pakistan, his newly named successor as army chief is seeking to distance the institution from the Musharraf regime and pull back its virtual occupation of the top senior ranks of civilian ministries and state [...]

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NEWS & OPINION: The American-Iranian communication gap

by Paul Woodward 01.08.2008

Dire straits By William M. Arkin, New York Times, January 8, 2008 Just what were the Iranians up to Sunday, when five small Iranian gunboats reportedly came within a couple hundred yards of three U.S. Navy vessels, dropping “box-like objects” (naval mines?) in their path, while threatening messages were transmitted over the radio? Was it [...]

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ANALYSIS: Talking to the enemy

by Paul Woodward 12.16.2007

Look who talks to the enemy By Helene Cooper, New York Times, December 16, 2007 Seven years of President Bush’s Don’t-Talk-to-Evil policy are over, even under the helm of the administration that crafted it. Now administration officials are openly making nice with Syria, holding round after round of talks with Iran over the fate of [...]

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OPINION: Time to talk to Iran

by Paul Woodward 11.01.2007

Sen. Hagel’s message to Bush By Chuck Hagel, via The Washington Note, November , 2007 Now is the time for the United States to active consider when and how to offer direct, unconditional, and comprehensive talks with Iran. The offer should be made even as we continue to work with our allies on financial pressure, [...]

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OPINION: Engaging Hamas and Hezbollah

by Paul Woodward 11.01.2007

Engaging Hamas and Hezbollah By Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, October 29, 2007 Nothing could be easier in the present atmosphere than to accuse anyone who calls for recognition of and dialogue with Hamas, Hezbollah and other Islamist movements of being closet supporters of reactionary “extremism” or naive fellow travelers of “terrorists.” This tactic is [...]

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OPINION: Bridging the cultural divide between progressives and evangelicals

by Paul Woodward 10.09.2007

A culture war treaty By E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post, October 9, 2007 You know the religious right is in trouble when some of its leaders threaten to bolt the Republican Party if it nominates a candidate who supports abortion rights. But the well-publicized warning directed against Rudy Giuliani this month is decidedly not [...]

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