REVIEW ESSAY Negotiate with Terrorists! or: Why Terrorism Cannot be Deterred ANDREAS M. BOCK H ow can terrorism be deterred? With violence! This answer seems to be obviously right, because terrorism has»a connotation of evil, in­discriminate violence, or brutality«(Lutz, 2004: 9). How can one nego­tiate with terrorists like Usama bin Laden or Hassan Nasrallah who kill innocent men, women and children? This proposition is, at the very least, absurd. Right? I believe that the real absurdity is not an alternative security strategy – even one that relies on negotiating with terrorists – but a security archi­tecture that rests first and foremost on the threat of massive military force. »Coercion or negative sanctions are found to have little effect[on terror­ism, A.B.] and, in important instances, are even counterproductive«(Frey, 2004: IX). That is something we could have learnt from everyday experi­ence in Israel, Palestine, Iraq, and, of course, from the(failed) attacks on American and European cities. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu puts it: »Retaliation against a suicide bomber only gives rise to more suicide bombers«(quoted in Govier, 2002: 94). In other words: fighting terror­ism by force is of no use; it does not even have a deterrent effect. On the contrary, the employment of massive military force makes it easier for ter­rorists to justify their attacks, to find broad support, and to recruit new followers. Nonetheless, if we are talking about fighting terrorism, we are talking about fighting terrorism by force. The security policy of the usa is the prime but not the only example. 1 French President Jacques Chirac de­1. The national budget for weapons and security under President George W. Bush has received»the largest increases in funding since the Reagan Administration, and this Budget builds upon that record. The 2006 request represents a 41-per­cent increase over 2001, and a 4.8-percent increase over 2005. The Department has used these resources to transform our Nation’s military capabilities to meet fu­ture threats, to improve the quality of life for our troops and their families, and to fight the Global War on Terror«(www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy06/pdf/budget/ defense.pdf, p.3). In 2006, spending increased overall to usd 419.3 billion. 156 Review Essay ipg 1/2007