What constitutes an effective and realistic strategy for dealing with non-state armed groups? This question has bedevilled states the world over. From Colombia and FARC, Turkey and the PKK, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the persistent insurgency in Iraq – the governments concerned struggle to either fight or negotiate their way to an end. Fighting armed groups is an uncertain business, and so is negotiating. Doing both alternately, concurrently or selectively, is highly demanding. This book develops a framework to help analysts and policymakers understand the challenges of using a combination of coercion and diplomacy in dealing with armed groups. It considers which complexities have proved most inhibiting, and which have been worked around. What are the obvious traps that states fall into? What appear to be the smarter moves? Thinking in terms or ‘military’ or ‘political’ solutions is unhelpful – to be genuinely strategic, a response must concern itself with managing