The Least of All Possible Evils: Humanitarian Violence from Arendt to Gaza

by Eyal Weizman

Groundbreaking exploration of the philosophy underpinning Western humanitarian intervention

The principle of the “lesser evil”—the acceptability of pursuing one exceptional course of action in order to prevent a greater injustice—has long been a cornerstone of Western ethical philosophy. From its roots in classical ethics and Christian theology, to Hannah Arendt’s exploration of the work of the Jewish Councils during the Nazi regime, Weizman explores its development in three key transformations of the the defining intervention of Médecins Sans Frontières in mid-1980s Ethiopia; the separation wall in Israel-Palestine; and international and human rights law in Bosnia, Gaza and Iraq. Drawing on a wealth of new research, Weizman charts the latest manifestation of this age-old idea. In doing so he shows how military and political intervention acquired a new “humanitarian” acceptability and legality in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, History, War, Geography, Theory

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Eyal Weizman is an architect, professor of spatial and visual cultures and director of the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London. Since 2014 he is a global professor at Princeton University. In 2010 he set up the research agency Forensic Architecture (FA). The work of FA is documented in the exhibition and book FORENSIS (Sternberg, 2014). In 2007 he set up, with Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, the architectural collective DAAR in Beit Sahour/Palestine. This work is documented in the book Architecture after Revolution (Sternberg, 2014). In 2013 he designed a permanent folly in Gwangju, South Korea which was documented in the book The Roundabout Revolution (Sternberg, 2015). His other books include The Conflict Shoreline (Steidl and Cabinet, 2015), Mengele’s Skull (Sternberg, 2012), The Least of all Possible Evils (Verso, 2011), Hollow Land (Verso, 2007), A Civilian Occupation (Verso, 2003). Weizman is on the editorial board of Third Text, Humanity, Cabinet and Political Concepts and is on the board of directors of the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) and on the advisory boards of the ICA in London and B’Tselem in Jerusalem, amongst others. He studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London and completed his PhD at the London Consortium/Birkbeck College.

Reviews

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The geospatial analysis of the masterful Hollow Land is extended here to address the forms of political violence which paradoxically arise from the very attempt to minimize and abate violence under the guise of a neutral humanitarian project.

Weizman demonstrates how the jurisprudence of modern state violence rests on a inverted utilitarian logic seeking not the "greater good" but the "lesser evil", thus delimiting a sphere of permissible violence below the threshold of a "greatest evil" (the metaphor used here is the number 665 — one less than The Beast). In doing so, law is subject to a kind of modal logic: the legality of an act of violence is predicated on the capacity for there to be a greater act of evil factored into the very decision to carry out the lesser. A set of actions and their possible outcomes, each bearing a weighted total, must be determined in advance so that the upper-most may be ruled out a priori. How one enumerates this set and subordinates death to a brute calculus of reason is of course the political question par excellence (essentially what Carl Schmitt locates as the concept of the political as such).

Following Hannah Arendt's account of the cooperation of Jewish councils with the Nazi regime, through which a pursuit of lesser evil at each stage ultimately fed into the totalitarian machine, Weizman investigates how humanitarian activity in zones of crisis operates on the same modal premise of state violence and may aggravate the very conditions intended for intervention. In both state violence and humanitarian aid, the utmost possible extremity of a situation is pre-sanctioned and the arena of possible action in turn framed by this limit. What this process neglects, however, is the action of non-action, or the understanding that a refusal to act by the given terms may very well be the only tenable exit route. The Ethiopian famine of the mid-80s serves as a case study for this principle. Here Médecins Sans Frontières in a mission of neutral aid were rendered subservient to a regime who abused their presence to further quell an insurgency and expedite a forced relocation of thousands. A dogma of reason thus turns over into unreason.

Weizman is not contra humanitarianism per se, but rather these instantiations which lead to a paradoxical reinscription of anti-human (or otherwise neo-colonial) practices. Humanitarianism, then, should not be rejected tout court for a politique du pire but rather "aim to provide no more than the bare minimum to support the revival of life after violence and destruction", so as to leave open the space for a political self-determination.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd, muddled book that has a great point about institutional capture buried in its dense musings.

Weizman details how the best of intentions of humanitarian work can be utilized and become essential to the execution of cruel acts. Weizman lays out the origins of the debate and situates it, as many of these discussions end up, in Hannah Arendt's thought. He lays out her argument that complete resistance is better than mitigating harm within the oppressive system because then that oppressive system becomes legitimized and may actually end up depending on you.

Weizman places particular emphasis on the Israeli Palestinian conflict, and the strength of the book is in the specificity of his examples.

However, he spends considerably less time laying out an alternative course of action. The short book becomes frustrating by laying out a compelling argument against a certain course and then just handwaving a new direction almost as an afterthought.

It's a valuable addition to a larger discourse, but you may end up more despairing after you're done.

[hami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend it to everyone. Eyal Weizman's continued his research on the issues of human rights and Forensic Architecture in occupied Palestine after the conflict of 2008-2009. This book can be a continuation of his last work: "Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation"

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among the most fascinating and disturbing books I have ever read. My Kindle edition now has a handful of notes that are simply swear words, but few books have made me think as much.

[Declan MacGinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whilst at time's prone to tangents, this work is a fantastic delve into some of the foundational ideas regarding humanitarian law. Strongly recommend.

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

dense and depressing but really enlightening and there were a lot of stand out passages of crisp, spicy analysis that i appreciated

[Jackson Elder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting insight on how human rights violations and atrocities are committed under the guise of “humanitarian action”. The overall argument and evidence was convincing but sometimes it felt as if the author got distracted or lost in thought, sometimes going down unnecessary rabbit holes. The author was convincing in his description of the issue of “lesser evil humanitarianism” but his brief attempt to find a solution through…refugee camps (???) felt very underwhelming and vague compared to the depth found in other parts of the novel.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is the relation between objects, methods, and power? The idea of methodological fetishism in the context of forensics or investigation speaks to how technical methods or scientific procedures can obscure the larger social or political realities. This focus on the “how” - or the methods and technicalities - often removes us from asking who is interpreting the evidence and why they’re doing it in a particular way.

The term “factish,” coined by Bruno Latour, helps to clarify this further. It’s not just that we treat facts as objective; it’s that we treat objects (and the methods surrounding them) as possessing an almost magical or autonomous power - a bit like a fetish. In the forensic context, the object (a piece of rubble) can become central to the narrative, standing in for a larger story or truth. But in focusing so much on the object itself, we risk ignoring the complex, human, and political forces that shape the ways those objects are interpreted and represented.

It is about inanimate objects constituting human subjects. Why the imagery of ruined buildings instead of ruined bodies?

Instead of the rubble, we could turn our attention to the Caterpillar D9 bulldozers - or, as the IDF calls them, ‘Teddy bears’ - which create ruins that sometimes resemble pyramids or collapsed houses of cards.

Or we could focus on the iron ore supplied by Australians, the copper sourced from Chile, the Chinese who manufacture the engines, the Indians who produce the hydraulic components, the Brazilians who assemble the parts, the Americans who sell the end product, the Israeli who operate them, and the mothers who gave birth to them…

This kind of narrative would move us away from looking at the destruction to looking at the long chain in the creation of destruction.

[Isobel · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Most significantly of all, it is the thresholds that are tested and pushed: the limits of the law, and the limits of violence that can be inflicted by a state and be internationally tolerated. This limit, newly defined with every attack, will become the new threshold of what can be done to people in the name of ‘war on terror’. When the legislative violence directed at Gaza unlocks the chaotic powers of destruction that lie dormant within the law, the consequence will be felt by oppressed people everywhere.”

Insightful, complex, and compelling, though occasionally garbled and meandering, this is an interesting first foray into the debate surrounding humanitarianism and the ways it both helps and hinders those in need. More thoughts to follow at an unspecified later date.

[Mikenzie Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how the author is trying to come up with idea to help for more justice in the world. One thing I did not like this book was it never really pulled me into reading it, I found it boring at times and struggled to read it. I think the main motif of the book is the logic of the lesser evil the idea that political and military powers justify harmful actions by presenting them as the least harmful option available. I would not recommend this book to other unless they are really into fixing the injustice that is our world.

[Fero136 · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most remarkably original books I have had the pleasure of reading. Through three case studies-cum-profiles and two essays, Weizman traces a searing indictment of humanitarianism and international law at the same time as he advocates for a rejection of the binary thinking that allows for the lesser-evil argument. As he closes the book, we must fight for better conditions in the present IN ORDER to fight for a more just future, not instead.

[Clara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book but way too short. It is not a "history" of humanitarian violence but rather a few case studies that illustrate the humanitarians' argument of the lesser evil. The last chapter on forensics is fascinating but is more about human rights organisations than about humanitarianism. It would definitely have been interesting to examine other humanitarian cases (and there are so many!)

[Obeida Takriti · Rating 4 out of 5]

قراءة فلسفية وتساؤلات كثيرة عن تلك المصطلحات التي نعتبرها مسلمة كالحرب، السلام، التدخل الدولي، وغيرها مما يسيطر على لغة العلاقات الدولية..
كتاب أساسي لفهم المشاكل الحقيقة التي نواجهها بدل الغرق في لغة أولئك الذين يسيطرون على العالم باللغة قبل السلاح..

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I read in 2023. Once you read this, every Israeli proclamation that they are adhering to international law takes on a new light. The question is less whether or not they are and more what rhetorical benefit the entire IHL framework gives them.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating chapter on forensics

[Stan Fleetwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sub title: "A short history of humanitarian violence".
Not a "history", but certainly "short".

[Erin 😎]

JFC 👀

[Peter Dodds · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deep dive into the logic of violence.

[bella]

for those interested in the human rights regime; he makes some compelling arguments.

[iulia Lambrino · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Least of All Possible Evils makes a massive contribution to humanitarian violence as it not only unpacks the history and philosophy of humanitarian intervention but also reflects on the war language that emerged with the development of humanitarianism during the 21st century.

By using the idea of ‘humanitarian present’, Weizman takes the reader through different conflicts, creating a timeline that underlines how the concept of lesser evil came to mean different and often contradictory things. The book explores the dilemma behind the principles of ‘lesser evil, looking at how the logic of war developed through time, introducing different calculus methods to moderate violence and to globalize compassion. Weizman, therefore, questions the ethics behind the exceptional course of action of the West, claiming to prevent greater injustices, and explores different types of languages used to calculate the extent of destruction and tell stories. By looking at the principle of proportionality, the concept of ‘Just War’ or ‘collateral damage’, Weizman builds his narrative around the deeper meaning behind such ideas and underlines the importance of framing or justifying such interventions.

This book represents an excellent read for anyone trying to expand their knowledge on the ethics and technicalities of ‘just war’ or anyone looking at humanitarian intervention from a more critical perspective.

[Billy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really valuable exploration and dismantling of the logics of humanitarianism and the doctrine of the lesser evil. As Weizman points out, the concept of proportionality which governs the pursuit of modern warfare can be extended very far to justify numerous seemingly abhorrent interventions and actions: “Faced with a humanitarian A-bomb, one might wonder what in fact comes under the definition of a greater evil”. Discussion of lawfare, specifically in an Israeli context, and the use of a ‘grey zone’ of IHL which seeks to extend what is deemed legal through continued violation is also important. Would have liked a more detailed exploration of the explicitly necropolitical forces that govern modern warfare and demarcate those worth protection and those who can be subjected to harm.

[ART · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speaks to much of what ails contemporary politics (or rather lack thereof) throughout the world. Exposes the Panglossian side of "just war theory" and the dangers of "665" thinking. A must read (especially for Americans) in an era of lesser evilism.

[Jaymee · Rating 4 out of 5]

An account of the 'humanitarian present' and how we buy into the concept of lesser evil for the good of many, following the words of St. Augustine and Pangloss in Voltaire's 'Candide.' Specifically, it deals with the spaces of refugees and how they become epistemic spaces (for the media to broadcast) and sites of violence, rather than safe spaces which can eventually hold on its own. (I enjoyed the problematization of spatial configurations during times of conflict, and would be greatly interested in seeing this applied to the displaced Rohingyas who are currently citizens of nowhere.) Quite theoretical and idealistic at times; solutions tend to be overly general in terms of spatial planning but I suppose this parallels his argument on the inability to measure one's losses (in calculating the lesser evil during the course of war) - it's impossible to plan and foretell what spatial distribution should be like, as spaces are constantly changing, depending on the situation and its inhabitants. I was a bit horrified to know that refugee camps all over are from a single UN manual applied to the different places and contexts. This is a call for a spatial reorganization and reconceptualization, specifically of refugee habitats - to make them vibrant living spaces that would promote political mobilization. There is also a discussion on forensic architecture, which is somehow an annex of the topic at hand. (Would be interesting to know if there's a particular architectural specialization on war zones and relief centers, though Weizman mentions some architects whom now work on this reconceptualization.)

[Ramona · Rating 4 out of 5]

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