[Paleopsych] dealing with dictators

[Michael Christopher]

>>Getting rid of corrupt sociopath dictators requires
either A) a long, uncertain process dependent on
international diplomatic pressure; or B) a 
short, uncertain process dependent on military might.
Well, I guess there's always C) God turns said
sociopath dictator into a donkey, but that hasn't
happened since Nebuchadnezzar.<<

--Another option would be to create conditions in
which the dictator's own people see him as weak or
naive, and replace him. A revolution from below is
also possible, as we've seen in many recent cases. If
the US hadn't been occupying Iraq, it's even possible
that Iran would have gone toward more reform instead
of backwards. When an external enemy is present,
dictators last longer because they are able to turn
anger within the country toward the external threat,
which further empowers the dictator and prevents him
from slipping in the eyes of his supporters. Dictators
are notorously bad at managing their economies, and
without an external enemy, the dream of prosperity
they attach to themselves quickly turns sour. Kim Jong
Il routinely uses fear/anger toward the US to prop
himself up, and Bush was probably right to put the US
in the background rather than the foreground of
negotiations, giving China center stage.

Michael


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