Quote Originally Posted by SteveMetz View Post
And another thought--the success of the South African outcome illustrates another point that I've come to believe: the empowerment of women is a crucial part (and greatly overlooked) component of strategic success in counterinsurgency. South Africa broke from African tradition in this. It also does not bode well for Iraq.
Steve,

I am with you on your last two posts. (all this agreement probably doesn't make interesting reading....) I think the South African 'compromise' is a useful case study. The only problem in that case (as you know) is getting people from both sides to talk on the record about what really transpired. I think it certainly offers an interesting example of what can happen if you can quote negotiate with terrorists unquote.

There are many other examples of compromise that led to peace. One might argue, for example, that the success in Malaya was at least partially built upon a compromise from the start - that the British had already conceded independence to the Malays , which then made the fight not about anti-colonialism but the form of the independent Malaysia. It may have been a very different fight if the insurgents ahd been able to motivate the wider ethnic Malay community by efefctively using the independence argument rather than just the socialist workers paradise one.

I do not know anywhere near enough about Iraq to even presume to offer an opinion as to whether some form of compromise is a possibility there , but I daresay that there are people on this forum who do and would be willing to offer a view!