I Believe in Harvey Dent, But Until Then Batman Will Have to Do

Commissioner Gordon: (Speaking of Harvey Dent): “Not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed.” 

Batman is my favorite superhero.  First, at his core he is just a man, ok a billionaire with a big chip on his shoulder, but he isn’t an alien (Superman), god (Thor), and he wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider (do I really need to say it?).  But more than his humanity I enjoy Batman’s relationship with Gotham City. 

Gotham is a complex environment rotting with corruption and crippled by inadequate government and police, while innocent civilians hang in the balance.  In these ways Batman’s world is not unlike our own.  Too many people suffer horrible injustices at the hands of corrupt leaders who act in their own interest rather than the greater good.  Although they have the capacity to alleviate this suffering, organizations like the UN, EU, and NATO don’t.  Not because they are blind to the plight of these people, but because they are handicapped by our system of international governance and the rules by which international actors ‘must’ play. 

Enter Batman.  While the police are unable to protect the people of Gotham, Batman is not bound by the same rules of conduct.  He doesn’t need a warrant to kick in the door of a mob boss’ home, he doesn’t have to work with corrupt colleagues, and his jurisdiction is limitless.  Batman goes where he is needed, acts in the best interest of the common good, and is gone in the blink of an eye. 

Under the cover of darkness and shadows, Batman protects the people of Gotham, coming and going as quickly and silently as his namesake.  On the other hand Harvey Dent, Gotham’s District Attorney, thwarts Gotham’s criminals and stamps out corruption in the light of day.  He was elected by the people of Gotham and acts through the transparent legal system.  Needless to say the symbolism behind Harvey Dent’s nickname, Gotham’s White Knight, and Batman’s, the Dark Knight, speaks volumes about this relationship.   

So what are the equivalent of Batman and Harvey Dent in our world?  Legally, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the closest thing we have to an international legal system which brings war criminals to justice.  Yet this organization has extremely limited capacity to pursue or detain suspects on its own, instead it relies on nations to arrest suspects and transfer them to The Hague.  As for a Batman parallel, the current use of drones by the Obama administration seems closest.  When the CIA asks for the President’s approval for a drone strike, the request is based on significant evidence.  However, there is no legal process through which suspected terrorists are tried and convicted.  It is this lack of due process that causes much of the controversy surrounding the targeted drone killings.   

How do we (if we even should), progress to having a Harvey Dent-esque ICC?  This organization would require a police force capable of pursuing criminals across international borders, like a stronger INTERPOL.  However as the formation and evolution of the European Union has shown, Nations are often reluctant to reduce their own authority over domestic affairs.  Empowering the ICC to investigate and arrest individuals would make it a government organization.  After all, a government is the organization with a monopoly on the use of force.

“You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” -Harvey Dent and Batman

Our world needs Harvey Dent; an organization to not only issue warrants and try criminals like  Joseph Kony and President al-Bashir, but to physically go to Central Africa and Sudan to arrest them.  Even if it remains “A court of last resort,” acting only in cases where the presiding national court fails to, such an organization is many years away, if it will ever exist. 

In the absence of this organization, our world deserves a Batman to hunt down those who would commit genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.  I am not saying Obama’s use of drones is the perfect embodiment of this idea.  But between nothing and American drone strikes, I’ll take the option that causes terrorists to lose sleep. 

I think this exchange from the end of The Dark Knight sums up my feelings on the matter.  Leaders of the world have to be critical of a program that kills specific people without due process.  Yet on some level many of them undoubtedly feel that a world with fewer terrorists is better than a world with more.  So long as the individuals targeted through this program are known terrorists guilty of horrible crimes against humanity, I think they will suffer the program to continue until a better option comes. 

Son: “Why is he running dad?”

Commissioner Gordon: “Because we have to chase him.” 

Son: “He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Commissioner Gordon: “Because he is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now.  So we’ll hunt him, because he can take it.  Because he is not a hero, he is a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark knight.”