Summary

The Axis of Evil institutionalized a new rhetoric of morality in international affairs which, at least in appearance, mirrors the ideological aspirations of George W. Bush and his neo-Conservative policy advisors. In its fight against evil, the US has economically and politically broken the Soviet Union, waged war against Afghanistan, toppled the Taliban regime, confronted Al-Qaeda ad threatened Syria, Iran and Northern Korea. But what is this notion of evil which has become part of the language of international politics? What are its historical origins and its moral, political and legal foundations? Is the fight against evil merely a new form of imperialism? against its potency as a tool for policy makers. He concludes that the greatest danger in combating the acts and individuals, broadly defined as evil, lies in a failure to grasp their true and varied nature in favour of attempts to blow evil away with unprecedented might.