The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror [Paperback]

Michael Ignatieff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0691123934 | ISBN-13: 978-0691123936 | Edition: New edition

Must we fight terrorism with terror, match assassination with assassination, and torture with torture? Must we sacrifice civil liberty to protect public safety?

In the age of terrorism, the temptations of ruthlessness can be overwhelming. But we are pulled in the other direction too by the anxiety that a violent response to violence makes us morally indistinguishable from our enemies. There is perhaps no greater political challenge today than trying to win the war against terror without losing our democratic souls. Michael Ignatieff confronts this challenge head-on, with the combination of hard-headed idealism, historical sensitivity, and political judgment that has made him one of the most influential voices in international affairs today.

Ignatieff argues that we must not shrink from the use of violence--that far from undermining liberal democracy, force can be necessary for its survival. But its use must be measured, not a program of torture and revenge. And we must not fool ourselves that whatever we do in the name of freedom and democracy is good. We may need to kill to fight the greater evil of terrorism, but we must never pretend that doing so is anything better than a lesser evil.

In making this case, Ignatieff traces the modern history of terrorism and counter-terrorism, from the nihilists of Czarist Russia and the militias of Weimar Germany to the IRA and the unprecedented menace of Al Qaeda, with its suicidal agents bent on mass destruction. He shows how the most potent response to terror has been force, decisive and direct, but--just as important--restrained. The public scrutiny and political ethics that motivate restraint also give democracy its strongest weapon: the moral power to endure when the furies of vengeance and hatred are spent.

The book is based on the Gifford Lectures delivered at the University of Edinburgh in 2003.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ignatieff, a leading liberal thinker on human rights issues, offers an impeccably (if often redundantly) argued case for how to balance security and liberty in the face of the new kind of threat posed by today's terrorists. His basic principle is that neither security nor liberty trumps the other-a middle-of-the-road position-but the more security-minded will no doubt find the author leans more to the civil libertarian side as he insists that, while the president may have prerogatives in terms of, say, limiting civil liberties, these actions must always be subject to legislative and judicial review. In the course of his discussion, Ignatieff, director of Harvard's Carr Center for Human Rights, touches on key and troubling issues, such as how a democracy fighting nihilistic terrorists can avoid falling into the nihilistic trap itself, and why (according to Ignatieff) there is no moral equivalence between the violence perpetrated by a Palestinian suicide bomber and that of Israel's military retaliations. On the question of torture, Ignatieff argues, against Alan Dershowitz, that even in "ticking-bomb" cases torture must be abjured. Equally controversial but forcefully argued is his contention that a liberal democracy must respect the human rights of its enemies, however inhumane their own actions have been. The bottom line for Ignatieff is, in the end, commonsensical: a moral response to terrorism, while advancing security, must respect the equality and dignity of all and "make the fewest possible changes to our tried and tested standards of due process." This is an essential starting point for liberals and civil libertarians in grappling with the difficult moral and political challenges posed by the war on terror.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Unlike some tunnel-visioned amnesiacs, Ignatieff understands that democracies around the world were fighting terrorism long before 9/11. In this exceptionally sophisticated commentary, he provides much-needed global and historical context for America's war against al-Qaeda, illuminating the promise and peril of a range of possible strategies for combating terrorist threats. Readers examine, for instance, the reasons that German and Italian police succeeded in their campaign against the Baader Meinhof gang in the 1970s while their counterparts in Spain failed during the same years to eradicate the cells of Basque terrorists. The sheer diversity of his case studies enables Ignatieff to discredit any simple-minded approach to terrorism. Although recognizing the need for democratic regimes to resort to violence and deception to prevent malign forces from destroying their citizens' lives and liberties, Ignatieff's impressive scholarship also underscores his warning that unless democracies subject all of their extraordinary tactics to legislative oversight and judicial scrutiny, they may subvert the very political traditions they set out to defend. The turbulence of recent history guarantees keen interest for this sobering inquiry. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; New edition edition (August 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691123934
• ISBN-13: 978-0691123936
• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 6.1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Geography > Regional

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Does lesser civil rights evil result in greater evil? July 5, 2004

By Wayne C. Lusvardi

Format:Hardcover

Michael Ignatieff, a liberal writer, columnist, broadcaster, and Harvard University professor has written a thoughtful, readable, and non-partisan book on how democracies should deal with the domestic civil rights challenges of terrorism. This book elevates the discussion beyond political hate rhetoric, propaganda, spin, and jingoism.

What Ignatieff is concerned about is how democracies avoid political repression at home while fighting brutal wars abroad. Ignatieff's political ethics of the lesser evil charts a midway course between a pure civil libertarianism and cynical pragmatism (antiterrorist measures should be judged by only their effectiveness).

In a nutshell Ignatieff's book discusses how emergencies such as 9/11 can be used to abandon civil rights, how he believes that democracies usually overreact to terror, how he believes terrorism is a response to injustice and blocked political means of redress, how terrorist and anti-terrorists may start with high ideals but end up in a vicious cycle of violence for its own sake, and the challenges to liberal democracies posed when weapons of mass destruction pass into the hands of small terrorist cells rather than states. Ignatieff bases his lesser evil approach to political ethics on novels and Greek plays and the political philosophy of the 15th Century Italian diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince, The Discourses).

Ignatieff's implication that the Iraq war is an overreaction to terrorism is inconsistent with his own ethical criteria that force should only be used as a last resort. He contends that 9/11 did not endanger the social order of the U.S. and likens the U.S. response to 9/11 to that of the Red Scare of the 1950's. Here Ignatieff's reasoned book deteriorates into mush. Ignatieff ignores the encroaching steps of terrorism going back to the 1970's beginning with the Iran hostage crisis, the assassination of Anwar Sadat in Egypt, the bombing of 200 U.S. Marines in Lebanon, the destruction of two U.S. embassies in Africa, and the bombing of the U.S. Navy destroyer Cole, all leading up to 9/11. Considering the totality of these terrorist acts, it would seem the U.S. has not been easily prone to provocation and thus met Ignatieff's last resort ethical criteria.

Where Ignatieff is at his best is when he points out that the strategy of insurrectionary terrorism employed by Russian revolutionaries is similar to that of current Islamic terrorists: to provoke ruling governments into atrocities on the battlefield and political repression at home that will weaken the grip of the allegiance of their citizens and allied nations. If this is so, Ignatieff offers us no insights as to what is the lesser evil: domestic civil rights violations incited by anti-war activists or the horrific mass murder and destruction of legal institutions of revolutionaries once they are in power. Ignatieff prefers to confine his discussion of the lesser evil to domestic civil liberties rather than the more difficult question of what was the lesser evil in Vietnam for example - political repression at home such as the Kent State tragedy provoked by the burning down of the campus ROTC building by anti-war activists, or the killing fields of Pol Pot and tragedies of the boat people that resulted after the war? One is left with the impression that to Ignatieff the genocides of post-war Vietnam and Cambodia were just another big Red Scare and that Kent State was the greater evil? To be fair, I'm sure Ignatieff doesn't believe this but he leaves the reader with this ethical dilemma without resolving it.

Ignatieff quotes Machiavelli that during emergencies constitutional safeguards shouldn't be abandoned. But Ignatieff conveniently ignores the political advice of Machiavelli on pre-emptive wars. Machiavelli wrote when trouble is sensed well in advance it can easily be remedied; if you wait for it to show itself any medicine will be too late because the disease will have become incurable. He also wrote that political disorders can be quickly healed if they are seen well in advance; but, for lack of proper diagnosis if they are allowed to grow in such a way that everyone can recognize them, remedies are too late.

Believing that liberty at home can only be achieved by a strong outward military defense, Machiavelli wrote a book The Art of War that outlined the strategy and tactics necessary to win wars. The world would be beholden to a modern day Machiavelli who could similarly outline a strategy for combating terrorism that would avoid political repression and wartime abuses. Ignatieff's book is no such primer. It might have also been helpful if Ignatieff had provided an overview of the wartime civil rights abuses of Presidents Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, and Nixon.

Using Ignatieff's lesser evil criteria for example, what would be the lesser evil if the U.S. was faced with a choice of a war of preemption in Iraq or a disastrous world-wide economic depression? Islamic political destabilization of Saudi Arabia for example could likely result in a sudden spike in oil prices that would likely cause massive unemployment and suffering. Here Ignatieff is strangely silent.

Nonetheless this is a good book that poses many of the right questions, even if it offers only partial answers. I recommend reading it but perhaps also reading Gil Merom's How Democracies Lose Small Wars and Lee Harris' Civilization and its Enemies as a counter balance. I nevertheless rate this book a 5 because the civil rights issues the author raises are very important whether you agree with his argument or not.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars How many others out there are asking these questions? May 27, 2004

By Steve Chernoski

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Michael Ignatieff has been a writer I have read quite a bit in my Master's degree in Genocide Studies. He is a leading Human Rights advocate, professor and writer. However, I have enjoyed reading his works because he is very practical. He often examines the psychological nature of "warriors" or people engaged in warfare. He realizes that liberal democracies must be able to fight those who seek to terrorize them. But, how do you do this and remain true to everything a liberal, democratic society stands for? The answer is fighting back with necessary but "Lesser Evils."

This is no easy task, for a Human Rights professor to admit that some atrocities must be committed in the defense of a nation, but what are they? He is hardly an apologist for sadistic and unethical treatment of suspects though. This point must be clear before you read this book; he is no Dershowitz and argues against him here.
Ignatieff often tells how democracies may be tempted to fight their enemies with an "eye for an eye" mentality, but sinking down to their level is a bigger threat that some terrorists are aiming for as a goal.
He uses history as a guide and notes that democracies tend to overreact to terrorist threats. He even notes that civil liberties may be suspended TEMPORARIRLY in times of emergency, (which he notes would outrage many civil libertarians) but this would be an example of a lesser evil. However, he writes as a person admitting some measures may need to happen, but it will leave a bad taste in all of our mouths, and the longer it goes on the more bitter. Its "lack of permanence" is necessary.

Yes, he talks of torture (before it came out in the media in Iraq) "They (national leaders) need results from their security services, and in the pressure of the moment, they may not care overmuch about how these results are obtained. A culture of silent complicity may develop between civilian political leaders and their security chiefs, in which both sides know that extralegal means are being used but each has an interest in keeping quiet about it." -p. 135 Hello Mr. Rumsfeld.

He goes on to say why torture is especially bad for a democracy, "a moral hazard."

Finally, of great importance in this book is he looks at six different types of terrorism, explains them and then talks about how they can be confronted, though sometimes his answers fall short (you hope he gives a workable solution to all these problems, though you realize it isn't possible).

He finishes with a chapter on the possibility of terrorists possessing a biological, chemical or nuclear weapon. History, which served as his guide in earlier chapters, would no longer apply to this scenario. He suggests that a society that is truthful to its citizens and will engage in dialogue with other countries, international organizations, while also placing responsibility on itself and other stable nations not to let unstable ones divulge into chaos is essential.

Rarely has terrorism been able to topple a whole nation alone, and when it has happened, it was because of additional political circumstances that it occurred (Tsarist Russia and WW I). But if democracies are self-questioning and honest on their ethical reactions to terrorism, than the more civil liberties will be preserved and tangible victories will result. Ignatieff has no doubt that liberal democracies will succeed in the war on terror, by defeating our enemies and also preserving the civil liberties of our minorities.

4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing discussion of civil rights and governmental responsibilities in times of terrorism September 26, 2008

By Rolf Dobelli HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks threatened Americans' safety, and strained the U.S.'s judicial and social interpretations about how to respond to a national emergency. Civil rights and constitutional experts from both conservative and liberal camps had to respond to the country's new "Homeland Security" practices dealing with surveillance and detention. Their reactions involved everything from the right of habeas corpus to the U.S. Constitution and the rights of captured combatants. Michael Ignatieff covers this heady area in essays adapted from a lecture series. The topic is crucial, but alas the book is dense reading. However, the author's interpretations of civil and legal issues, constitutional law, the rule of law, and the ethics and morality of fighting terrorists will deeply intrigue those in related fields. getAbstract considers this an important book for lawyers and academics, if not casual readers. Ignatieff shows that balancing the rights of those criminals known as terrorists against the safety of citizens is an issue society will debate hotly for years to come.