Knowing Evil When You See It: Uses for the Rhetoric of Evil in International Relations

The rhetoric of evil has been a mainstay in international affairs, although President Bush’s use of the phrase ‘axis of evil’ has elevated its prominence. Few, however, have attempted an analytically defensible definition of evil as it relates to international events. I attempt this, identifying commonalities that unite historical deployment of the term: an evaluation of evil cuts across the traditional ethical axes of evaluation of ‘person’ (virtue theory), ‘nature of action’ (deontology), and ‘consequence’ (utilitarianism). This analysis will help identify possible roles that the concept of evil plays in our international linguistic economy and what purposes it serves. I briefly discuss these roles (motivational, counterforce, divisional, and evaluational). Clarifying the meaning of the term evil and its usage in global political discourse will highlight the pitfalls that accompany the use of such rhetoric in international relations, which include forestalling possibilities of redemptive reform.