Elton B. McNeil

Personal hostility and international aggression

Reasoning by analogy is mans most favored and least trusted logical tool. Without it he would be seriously hampered in his search for explanations of human behavior, yet with it he has committed some of his most noteworthy scientific blunders. The perils of reasoning by analogy have been catalogued with such devastating care in the education of most thinkers that they have had to choose from among three alternatives if they are loath to abandon this fascinating form of logic. First, they can continue the practice of this arcane art in the privacy of their own minds and display the outcome of such thought to the public while maintaining strict secrecy regarding the process by which it was achieved. Second, they can boldly display their predilection and admit their addiction to all forms

Violence and Human Development

For centuries, mankind has watched, helplessly, as his capacity for planetary destruction has outdistanced his ability to comprehend the reasons for human violence. In desperation, man has scoured the animal kingdom searching for a model of comportment, and he has returned, empty- handed, from his quest. Psychology has insisted that it has a clue to the crude recipe for the creation of violent individuals and that the analysis of violence at a personal, group, national, or international level must focus on the nature of the develop ing human being who will—by happenstance or cold design— succeed to a position of leadership. The psychological struc ture of the leader and of his lieutenants is a vital piece of the puzzle of violence both at the juvenile resort-riot level and in the game of cold war-hot war bluff. Without an increased understanding of the forces that shape the individual, we will forever fail to comprehend the direction that international violence may take.

Discussions and Reviews : The military mind versus the civilian mind: a review

The Romans had a saying for it, &dquo;Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?&dquo; The Greeks had a word for it too; Plato asked, &dquo;Would it not be a monstrous thing to keep watchdogs who, from want of discipline or some evil habit, might turn on the sheep and devour them?&dquo; Civilization has &dquo;progressed&dquo; over the centuries but we have yet to find an adequate leash for the military watchdog. We have,