Joel Simon is a fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School and formerly the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Before joining CPJ, he worked as a journalist in Latin America and California. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
“A firm no-concessions policy that relies on meager evidence is
inexcusable, he argues, when lives hang in the balance. We Want to
Negotiate is a helpful, accessible contribution to a decades-old
dilemma.” —Wall Street Journal
“This excellent and careful book asks tough questions about whether
and how governments should negotiate with kidnappers to get
hostages released.” —Foreign Affairs
“As Joel Simon expertly explains in his new book, We Want to
Negotiate, there is no consensus about how to respond to an ancient
practice that has made a terrible resurgence in the post-9/11 era.”
—Jason Rezaian, Washington Post
“Kidnapping today has taken a more sinister and professional turn,
as demonstrated in Joel Simon’s We Want To Negotiate ... kidnapping
is in a state of constant flux, endlessly evolving to meet demand.”
—Caroline Moorehead, The Times Literary Supplement
“A wise and thorough investigation of the painful conundrum posed
by terrorist kidnappings. Simon makes a cogent argument about how
to change our current, failed approach to negotiation.” —Lawrence
Wright, author of The Looming Tower and The Terror Years
“Joel Simon has written an invaluable insider’s account of the how
and the why of the shadowy business of ransom negotiation at the
highest level. For anyone who has ever wondered why some
governments negotiate for the release of their captured citizens,
while others—including our own—do not, Simon’s book is essential
reading. As head of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Simon has
seen the hostage crisis up close and this book reflects his
intelligence, courage, and clear-eyed approach to this murky but,
sadly, thriving business.” —Kati Marton, author, journalist and
former Board Chair of the Committee to Protect Journalists
“This is an excellently researched and reasoned book on a terrible
and complicated problem—what to do when someone is taken hostage. I
hope all those who have had to face this awful dilemma will read
it, and especially those who make and carry out government policy.”
—Terry Anderson, journalist, hostage in Lebanon for seven years
“Joel Simon’s book about the dark world of kidnappers and their
hostages is deeply reported, well written and well calibrated in
its judgements. For anyone who wants to understand the many
difficult questions raised by the kidnapping trade, Simon’s book
will be the standard.” —Peter Bergen, author of United States of
Jihad: Who are America’s Homegrown Terrorists and How Do We Stop
Them
“In We Want to Negotiate, Joel Simon combines the breadth of his
knowledge alongside stunning narratives to try to understand how
the gruesome and murky trade of kidnapping really works. Simon’s
international policy expertise and his compassion for his
subjects—many of whom he knew and worked alongside—shine through to
create a spellbinding, chilling and important read.” —Janine di
Giovanni, Senior Fellow, the Jackson Institute of Global Affairs,
Yale University, and author of The Morning They Came for Us:
Dispatches from Syria
“To Simon, who has worked for nearly 20 years at the Committee to
Protect Journalists, the question is a matter not just of political
will or moral philosophy but also of who lives and who dies....
General readers will find the material enlightening, and those
professionally involved will find it essential.” —Publishers
Weekly
“A persuasive argument that deserves to be heard in Foggy Bottom,
the Pentagon, and other corridors of power.” —Kirkus Reviews
“This readable and well-argued book is essential for ethics,
journalism, and international relations collections, and a valuable
rubric for assessing hostage policy, whether by governments,
individuals, or businesses.” —Library Journal
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