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The Lesser Evil

The Lesser Evil

by Michael Ignatieff

2003Moral and ethical aspectsPolitical ethicsTerrorismPolitical aspectsPrevention
4.0
Open Library
Open Library

First lines

What lesser evils may a society commit when it believes it faces the greater evil of its own destruction?

About this book

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 hardheaded 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 counterterrorism, 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 …

Themes & subjects

Moral and ethical aspectsPolitical ethicsTerrorismPolitical aspectsPreventionHistory
First published 2003

About the author

Michael Ignatieff
Michael Ignatieff

1947

Author

Michael Ignatieff

First published

2003

Pages

212

Read time

≈ 5h

Editions

10

Language

English

Publisher

Princeton University Press

ISBN

9781400850686

Where to buy

TR
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