Jonathan Powell - Talking to Terrorists, Southbank Centre

What’s the best way to deal with the threat and danger of terrorism? Diplomat and former political adviser and negotiator Jonathan Powell advises how to end armed conflicts.

Jonathan Powell shares the political skills that he honed during ten years in government and with this role of chief British  Negotiator with the IRA. His previous career as a diplomat saw him contributing to the talks about returning Hong Kong to China in the early 80s, human rights negotiations and working towards arms control with the Soviet Union. After leaving politics Powell has focused on the charitable element of ending conflict, setting up his own NGO, Inter Mediate, which aims to create a sustainable resolution to war by using negotiation skills.

Powell will reflect upon historical and contemporary negotiations to arrive at a model of the best way to tackle the current terrorist threats. Having established a dialogue in a board spectrums of conflicts, and written two books on the subject of communicating to create peace, Powell will present a thought-provoking, illuminating argument for how to stop conflict permanently.