Negotiating with Evil

In a career spanning decades, Mitchell B. Reiss has been at the center of some of America's most sensitive diplomatic negotiations. He is internationally recognized for his negotiation efforts to forge peace in Northern Ireland and to stem the nuclear crisis in North Korea. In Negotiating with Evil, Reiss distills his experience to answer two questions more vital today than ever: Should we talk to terrorists? And if we do, how should we conduct the negotiations in order to gain what we want?

To research this book, Reiss traveled the globe for three years, unearthing hidden aspects of the most secret and sensitive negotiations from recent history. He has interviewed hundreds of individuals, including prime ministers, generals, intelligence operatives, and former terrorists in conflict-torn regions of Europe, Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. The result is a fascinating examination of the different methods countries have employed to confront terrorist movements, the mistakes made, the victories achieved, and the lessons learned.

Negotiating with Evil is a penetrating and insightful look into high-stakes diplomacy in the post-9/11 world and a vital contribution to the global security debate as the United States and its allies struggle to confront terrorist threats abroad and at home.

Mitchell B. Reiss is President of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, and was previously Diplomat-in-Residence at the College of William & Mary where he was also Vice Provost for International Affairs and Dean and Director of the Wendy and Emery Reves Center for International Studies. From 2003 to 2005 he served as Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department under Secretary of State Colin Powell. From 2003 to 2007, he served as the President's Special Envoy for the Northern Ireland Peace Process with the rank of Ambassador. He received the State Department's Foreign Affairs Award for Public Service in 2007. He is also the author of Bridled Ambition: Why Countries Constrain Their Nuclear Capabilities and Without the Bomb: The Politics of Nuclear Nonproliferation.