The Psychology of Dictatorship
Jason Goldman has a fascinating post that delves into the psychology of several infamous dictators. (Click on the picture for a larger-sized image.) Goldman observes:
'Further comparisons among the dictators revealed that Kim Jong-il had more in common with Saddam Hussein (their profiles had a correlation of .67) than with Hitler (their profiles had a correlation of .20). Indeed, both Jong-il and Hussein had sadistic personality disorder as their highest rated item, and their scores were nearly identical â?? more than three standard deviations above the population average!'
However, Howard French argues against seeing Kim Jong-il as a madman:
'The focus on Kim's foibles and on his reputed unpredictability always hampered understanding of the man and of the real nature of the regime. From beginning to end during 17 years of rule, he was capable of minutely sliced and, it must be stressed, rational calculations about how to stay in power and how to keep the world at bay.'