Negotiating with Terrorists – an Option Not to Be Forgone MICHAEL DAUDERSTÄDT KOMMENTARE /COMMENTS I t is very tempting, in the wake of the many shocking terrorist attacks of recent times – such as those in Istanbul on 20 November 2003, in Madrid on 11 March 2004 and ongoing in Iraq – to follow through one’s tough rhetoric and to shun negotiations, as most Western politicians, and above all the us President, have done. In this way they are following a line which has been dominant since»September 11« at the latest and has led the usa and its allies first into Afghanistan and then into Iraq. The results of the»War against Terror,« however, are only partly convincing: the al­lies have captured or killed a number of alleged ringleaders and their fol­lowers but unfortunately the network itself is clearly still functioning. Even worse, there is a strong suspicion that the chosen measures, above all the invasion and occupation of Iraq, as well as the omissions, above all the lack of pressure for a peaceful solution to the Palestinian conflict, have done little to put old terrorists out of action and, far from deterring new ones, in fact have encouraged them. If one includes the guerilla war in Iraq what we are facing is a clear net growth in terrorism. Suicide Terrorism as a Strategy of Nationalist Movements A more measured approach is not easy when we are confronted with the victims but it might help to avoid more victims in the future. The Amer­ican political scientist Robert A. Pape has analysed the logic of suicide ter­rorism. 1 Terrorism serves strategic political aims. These aims are often shared by many people, even if the overwhelming majority repudiate ter­rorism as a means of their realization. Pape, who has examined all 188 sui­cide attacks between 1980 and 2001, has shown that almost all were part 1. Robert A. Pape,»The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism«, in American Political Science Review , Vol. 97, No. 3(August 2003), pp. 343–61. ipg 3/2004 Dauderstädt, Negotiating with Terrorists 9