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.
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