Table Of ContentEvil and International Relations
Also by Renée Jeffery
Hugo Grotius in International Thought(Palgrave,2006).
Evil and International Relations
Human Suffering in an Age of Terror
Renée Jeffery
Evil and International Relations
Copyright ©Renée Jeffery,2008.
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 Understanding Evil 1
2 The Meaning ofSuffering 13
3 The Problem ofEvil 33
4 Moral Evil 59
5 Moral Monsters 77
6 Evil as Thoughtlessness 101
7 The War on Evil 127
Conclusion 155
Notes 167
Bibliography 209
Index 229
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Acknowledgments
In writing this book,I have incurred many debts.Financially,I am par-
ticularly grateful to the School of Social Sciences at La Trobe
University,where I held my first lectureship,and in particular,the then
head ofschool,David de Vaus,for providing me with a generous research
and travel grant to uphold a number of research and conference com-
mitments I had made before joining the Politics Program there.I am sim-
ilarly grateful for the Faculty ofArts grant I received in the same year that
allowed me to present aspects of this work at the World International
Studies Conference in Istanbul in August 2005.
During my time at La Trobe,I also benefited greatly from the support
offered by many ofmy colleagues,including Judith Brett,Gwenda Tavan,
and Tom Weber. Parts of this work were presented at the La Trobe
University Politics Research Seminar,which provided me with an excel-
lent opportunity to gain much-needed feedback on the central argu-
ments ofthe work.In particular,I would like to thank Dennis Altmann,
Judith Brett,and Tony Jarvis for their insightful comments and for their
conversations on the subject that followed.Parts of Chapters 1 and 2
were also presented as “Confronting Evil in International Relations:
Responding Ethically to Problems of Moral Agency” at the World
International Studies Conference in Istanbul, August 24–27, 2005. On
that and other occasions, I have greatly appreciated comments, ques-
tions, and constructive criticisms from Kirsten Ainley, Chris Brown,
Stephanie Carvin, Ian Hall, Kimberly Hutchings, Tony Lang, and Nick
Rengger.I would particularly like to thank Tony Lang for wading through
the manuscript ofthis work on more than one occasion and for provid-
ing his customary polite and encouraging,yet testing,commentary.Of
course,it goes without saying that the mistakes that undoubtedly appear
in the work are mine alone.
In many ways,this book grew out ofa number ofarticles that I pub-
lished on the subject ofevil in international,religious,and social thought
in 2005. The first, coauthored with Nicholas Rengger—“Screwtape’s
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Return? Debating Gordon Graham’s Evil and Christian Ethics,”
Conversations in Religion and Theology 3 (2005): 24–37—followed a
hearty discussion of Graham’s work,attended by the author himself,in
St.Andrews in 2004.I would particularly like to thank Gordon Graham
for engaging in such a lively discussion of his work, and for the com-
ments and criticisms he made ofour assessment ofit both privately and
on the pages ofConversations in Religion and Theology.Some ofthe gen-
eral themes covered in this work were also addressed in an article also
written with Nicholas Rengger for a special issue of the SAIS Review of
International Affairs: “Moral Evil and International Relations: Old
Concepts,New Challenges?”in “Villains and Villainy,”special issue,SAIS
Review ofInternational Affairs25 (2005):3–16.Finally,I have also previ-
ously addressed some ofthe works discussed in Chapter 5 ofthis work in
“Beyond Banality? Ethical Responses to Evil in Post–September 11
International Relations,”International Affairs81,no.4 (2005):175–86.
As always,however,the person who deserves the greatest thanks from
me is Ian Hall.As a colleague,friend,and partner,Ian has continued to be
an unending source ofsupport and encouragement throughout the pro-
duction ofthis work.Our never-ending discussions ofthe central issues
raised by the work challenged,extended,and inspired me,forcing me to
reconsider key assumptions present in my argument and,ultimately,to
write a better book.Thanks also to Ian,along with Eddy and Paddy,for
doing their very best to keep me as calm as possible during the final
months offinishing this book.
1
Understanding Evil
It is one thing to identify evils and quite another to understand or explain
what we are saying when we pronounce a thing “evil.”Few of us have any
hesitation in judging things evil,but most ofus find it surprisingly difficult
to explain what we are doing when we make and support such judgements.1
On July 7,2005,the world watched in stunned horror as four bombs
rocked central London. In the hours and days that followed, world
leaders,politicians and other dignitaries roundly condemned the acts in
what have now become familiar terms.In his initial statement from the G8
Summit at Gleneagles,British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the bomb-
ing “barbaric,”concluding at the Labor Party Conference nine days later
that the attacks were driven by an “evil ideology.”2 In his response,
President of the United States, George W. Bush, also speaking from
Gleneagles,vowed that “those who have such evil in their heart”will not
succeed in achieving their aims, while the leader of the British
Conservative Party,Michael Howard,spoke ofthe “evil acts”that had taken
place,adding that “these evil people will not have their way.”3In the con-
dolence book opened by the British High Commission in Canberra,
Australian Prime Minister John Howard wrote in similar terms that “Evil
deeds will never cower a free people.”4“Evil,”it seems,was once again at the
forefront ofthe international political agenda.
Ofcourse,the London attacks were not an isolated incident but rather
represented one in a long list ofevents that have,in recent years garnered
the title of “evil.” Foremost among these incidents stand the Rwandan
genocide,5the massacre at Srebrenica,6and the Beslan school siege,which,
for its abhorrent treatment ofthe children held captive,seemed to take on
a particularly heinous character.7More obviously,however,the characteri-
zation of the London attacks as “evil” came in the aftermath of the
September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York,
