Table Of ContentC E
ONFRONTING VIL
I
IN NTERNATIONAL
R
ELATIONS
Ethical Responses
to Problems of
Moral Agency
Edited by
Renée Jeffery
Confronting Evil in
International Relations
Previous Publications
Hugo Grotius in International Thought (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2005).
Evil and International Relations: Human Suffering in an Age of Terror (New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).
Confronting Evil in
International Relations
Ethical Responses to Problems of Moral Agency
Edited by Renée Jeffery
confronting evil in international relations
Copyright © Renée Jeffery, 2008.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008
All rights reserved.
First published in 2008 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLANTM
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS.
Companies and representatives throughout the world.
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom
and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European
Union and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-37094-8 ISBN 978-0-230-61253-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230612532
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the
Library of Congress.
Edited by Renée Jeffery
Confronting evil in international relations : ethical responses to problems of
moral agency
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-230-60263-0
1. International relations—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Jeffery, Renée.
JZ1306.C67 2008
172’.4—dc22 2007045688
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Scribe Inc.
First edition: June 2008
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Notes on Contributors ix
Part 1 The Problem of Evil in International Relations
Introduction: Evil, Responsibility, and Response 3
Renée Jeffery
1 Evil and the Problem of Responsibility 11
Renée Jeffery
Part 2 Agency and Responsibility for Evil in International
Relations
2 Individual Agency and Responsibility for Atrocity 37
Kirsten Ainley
3 Collective Evildoing 61
Arne Johan Vetlesen
Part 3 Ethical Responses to Evil in International Relations
4 Evil, Agency, and Punishment 89
Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
5 Reconciliation: An Ethic for Responding to Evil in 115
Global Politics
Daniel Philpott
6 Avenging Evil: A Reconsideration 151
Ian Hall
7 To Forgive the Unforgivable? Evil and the Ethics of 179
Forgiveness in International Relations
Renée Jeffery
vi (cid:79)(cid:3) Contents
Select Bibliography 213
Index 223
Acknowledgments
Questions of “evil,” its meaning and manifestations in international poli-
tics, and the ethical challenges posed by its occurrence, have directed much
of my research in recent years. While many, perhaps even most, people
have questioned my sanity in taking on such a difficult, contentious, and
in many ways unsavory subject, a number of valued colleagues from near
and far have, nonetheless, sought to engage, on an intellectual and critical
level, my ideas about evil as they have developed. In particular, I have ben-
efited from conversations about this and other related subjects, as well as
the support and collegiality of Kirsten Ainley, Judith Brett, Chris Brown,
Ian Hall, and Tony Lang. During the initial stages of planning this collec-
tion of essays I was employed as a lecturer at La Trobe University in Mel-
bourne. I am extremely grateful for the support and encouragement I
received from a number of my colleagues there, including Gwenda Tavan,
Tom Weber, Judith Brett, and Dennis Altmann. The latter stages of writ-
ing, editing, and compiling this book took place at the University of Ade-
laide, where I took up a lectureship in the School of History and Politics in
2007. I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of Toby Wahl at
Palgrave Macmillan for his assistance in getting this project off the ground
in the first place.
However, the people that deserve the greatest thanks for seeing this
work to fruition are, of course, the contributors. This work brings together
the insights and expertise of a diverse range of scholars: from the fields
of International Relations and philosophy, and hailing from the United
Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and Norway, their areas of
interest include international ethics, international law, moral philosophy,
psychology, international relations theory, conflict resolution, the history
of international political thought, and religion in international affairs.
Each has made an invaluable contribution to the book, bringing their own
viii (cid:79)(cid:3) Acknowledgments
specialisations and perspectives to what is a subject fraught with contention
and controversy. I would like to thank each of them for their dedication
to this project over the past two years and for their cooperation and
professionalism in the final stages of putting the work together. On a
personal note, I would also like to thank Ian for his unfailing support,
encouragement, and intellectual engagement, both at home and at work.
Notes on the Contributors
Kirsten Ainley is a Lecturer in International Relations at the London School
of Economics and Politics. She completed a PhD thesis on “Rethinking
Agency & Responsibility In Contemporary International Political Theory”
in 2006 and is the author of “Responsibility for Atrocity: Individual Crimi-
nal Agency and the International Criminal Court,” in Evil, Law and the State:
Perspectives on State Power and Violence, ed. John Parry (Amsterdam: Rodopi,
2006), “The Social Practice of Institutional Responsibility,” in Responding to
“Delinquent” Institutions: Blaming, Punishing, and Rehabilitating Collective
Moral Agents in International Relations, ed. Toni Erskine (Basingstoke, UK:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2008); and, with Chris Brown, Understanding Interna-
tional Relations, 3rd Edition (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).
Her current research includes work on the politics of international law in
general, and of war crimes trials in particular.
Ian Hall is a Senior Lecturer in International Politics in the School of History
and Politics, University of Adelaide. He is the author of The International
Thought of Martin Wight (New York: Palgrave, 2006) and several articles on
international theory and the history of international political thought. He
is currently working on a collaborative project on international ethics and a
book on utopianism and international theory.
Renée Jeffery is a Lecturer in International Politics at the Univer-
sity of Adelaide. She is the author of Evil and International Relations:
Human Suffering in an Age of Terror (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2008); Hugo Grotius in International Thought (New York: Palgrave Mac-
millan, 2006); along with a number of articles published in International
Affairs, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, The European Jour-
nal of International Relations, The SAIS Review of International Affairs,
and Conversations in Religion and Theology. Her current research includes
work on the international dimensions of forgiveness, and a co-authored study
of the intellectual history of international ethics.
