Politics is who gets what, when, how.
Harold LasswellRead
So great are the psychological resistances to war in modern nations, that every war must appear to be a war of defence against a menacing, murderous aggressor. There must be no ambiguity about whom the public is to hate. Guilt and guilelessness must be assessed geographically and all the guilt must be on the other side of the frontier.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote discusses the psychological dynamics that justify war by framing it as a defense against a clear enemy.
Harold Lasswell's quote highlights the tendency of modern societies to construct narratives around war that portray themselves as victims fighting against clear aggressors. This psychological resistance shapes public perception, necessitating an unequivocal division between guilt and innocence, where the enemy is uniformly blamed while the inner conflict of one's own society is obscured.
Themes
WarPsychologyAggressionPublic PerceptionDefense
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the psychology of war in a political science class.
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