Powell was Tony Blair's Chief of Staff and deeply involved, for ten years, in the public and private processes of negotiation with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, and various Unionist leaders including David Trimble and Ian Paisley, along with the Irish government lead by Bertie Ahern.
The story gives detailed insight into how the negotiating processes worked, mainly what was going on in the confidential contacts and the secret meetings that led to the public meetings and public agreements (and disagreements).
There are anecdotes about the people and the circumstances. You get the impression that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness really felt at home in 10 Downing street. Powell tells how on one occasion he urgently had to get Adams and McGuinness in from the back garden where they were playing with Tony Blair's kids and trying to ride a skateboard down the path. A photograph of the incident would have given a totally misleading impression of the public relationship between Sinn Féin and the British Government.
The story of the negotiations is told in a welter of detail. So it seems like an endless process, repeatedly covering the same ground, with progress measured in imperceptible steps, and successes followed by immediate setbacks. It is clear that endless patience and determination were needed. Part of the motivation for writing the book is to explain why and how success was achieved so that lessons can be learned for resolution of conflicts in other regions of the world.
Achieving a lasting peace in Ireland is positioned as a major mission for Tony Blair. He was convinced a settlement was possible and was determined to keep on talking until it was achieved.
From one perspective this looks like a wonderful example. The IRA and the British authorities were engaged in an armed conflict. Neither side could win, but the conflict could go on and on. To get to the point where the IRA gave up violence and dissolved itself and representatives of the extremes on the political spectrum in Northern Ireland (Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)) agreed to share power in a devolved government for Northern Ireland is a great achievement for democracy and an example of what can be achieved by modern civilised society.
On the other hand it is daunting to realise how difficult this process was. Powell explains the many aspects of the situation that made success possible, but the foundation for any such settlement is trust. That there was so much mistrust and hatred between communities in a corner of democratic western Europe at the end of the 20th century could make one pessimistic about the possibilities for achieving and maintaining settlements in bigger conflicts elsewhere.
But I am left with a conundrum, if Blair was so firmly convinced of the rightness of the mission of achieving a peaceful settlement among the parties in Ireland by patient, continuous talking and negotiation, how did he at the same time go into the Iraq war with the idea of bringing peace and democracy by means of armed conflict? Jonathan Powell must also have lots of the inside story on that question - should be material for a long career as an author.
(Typos corrected 2008-05-05)
"Great Hatred, Little Room" Jonathan Powell, The Bodley Head, London 2008
Jonathan Powell by banstead on Flickr