Michael Ignatieff The Lesser Evil?

Michael Ignatieff has been one of the more influential establishment intellectuals of the English-speaking world, and is likely to become Prime Minister of Canada. His official story is that of an ambitious, accomplished progressive politician and writer, whose work and thought fit within an enlightened political tradition valuing human rights and diversity. Here, Derrick O'Keefe argues otherwise. In this critical assessment of Ignatieff's life and politics he reveals that Ignatieff's human rights discourse has served to mask his opportunistic support for elite policies'”he has even provided a philosophical justification for torture. Tracing the course of his career over the last thirty years, from his involvement in the battles between Thatcher and the coal miners in the 1980s, to the Balkan War, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel's invasion of Gaza, O'Keefe suggests that Ignatieff and his political tradition have in fact stood in opposition to the extension of democracy and the pursuit of greater equality. Michael Ignatieff: The Lesser Evil? is a timely assessment of a man who has become a phenomenon, one that reveals a great deal about official politics in the West.

Derrick O’Keefe is a Canadian writer and social justice activist. He is the editor of rabble.ca, a popular website featuring progressive news and analysis. He has written widely on Canadian and international politics, and is the co-writer, with Afghan politician Malalai Joya, of A Woman Among Warlords.