The development of a Northern Ireland-style political process in Iraq involving Sunni and Shia leaders will undermine extremists, according to Peter Hain.
In a lecture on the lessons the world can draw from Northern Ireland, Mr Hain will argue that a set of fundamental principles which operated in the province's peace process could be applied elsewhere.
But while the Labour deputy leadership candidate will insist politics should have primacy in Iraq, the Middle East and other conflicts around the world, he will nevertheless rule out talks with al Qaida and other Jihadist groups, claiming they represent an anti-democratic and altogether different terrorist threat.
Mr Hain will tell an invited audience at Chatham House in London: "One thing is abundantly clear: there can never be an exclusively military solution to any of these problems.
"There is always a need to create space and time, free from violence in which the primacy of politics can be asserted. At best, military force can contain a terrorist campaign. It can never address the causes and security and political objectives must be in balance.
"Political capacity must be developed even when the conflict is ongoing and the only way to do that is to identify and be prepared to work with key individuals and constructive forces on all sides and that will mean talking to 'the enemy'.
"There must also be inclusive dialogue at every level - in secret if necessary - wherever there are negotiable objectives and that dialogue must be sustained even, or perhaps especially, in the face of violence and that will mean taking political risks to underpin political progress.
"But there cannot be constructive dialogue if there are inflexible and rigid preconditions. Above all there is a need to grip and micro-manage a conflict at a high political level."
The Northern Ireland Secretary will say that, in the Middle East, dialogue between the Israelis and Palestinians has been stunted and not sustained over a sufficiently long period of time.
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He will also admit in Iraq there was a comprehensive lack of understanding of the sectarian forces and faultlines that existed across the country - a problem which was compounded by post-invasion policy failures.
