The Warrior's Honour

J.L. Granatstein, distinguished research professor emeritus of history
at York University, is the author of Who Killed Canadian History?, and
co-author of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Influential Canadians of the
20th Century and the Dictionary of Canad

Michael Ignatieff has made a huge impact since he left academe in Canada
to try his hand as a writer/TV personality in London. His study of
nationalism, Blood and Belonging (1994), was splendidly written, his
family memoir, The Russian Album (1996), revealing and acutely painful.

This book, which builds on his study of nationalism, looks at conflict
in the present age. Ignatieff attributes the rise in the barbarism of
war to its being fought so much by irregulars. Regular armies still have
an ideal of honour; irregulars and paramilitaries don’t accept the
codes of conduct that have come to govern war. This, he says, “may be
one reason why postmodern war is so savage, why war crimes and
atrocities are now integral to the very prosecution of war.” (It might
also be noted that fighting against irregulars can barbarize
professional soldiers too—the atrocities by intervening forces in
Somalia, not only by Canadians, suggest this strongly.)

Ignatieff treats much more in this small book. He looks at the impulse
to provide aid to societies in turmoil which, while admirable, can lead
to nongovernmental organizations manipulating the public and political
systems to increase their support. (Too often these days NGOs seem to be
making policy—but who elected them?) He also looks at “memory and
moral healing” or, in other words, how divided societies can overcome
the living memories of atrocities to live in peace. “Reconciliation
means breaking the spiral of intergenerational violence,” he notes,
mutually reinforcing respect. This is a wonderful ideal, but as we see
Ireland torn apart every July 12 by memories of a 1690 battle, one
wonders how realistic it is.