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Long before the nuclear superpowers began to extend their competition into space Bertrand Russell (1959) wrote, “When I read of plans to defile the heavens by the petty squabbles of the animated lumps that disgrace a certain planet, I cannot but feel that the men who make these plans are guilty of a kind of impiety” (p. 19). Russell's words lead us to a central dynamic, the arrogance of power of nations spiritually adrift, terrorized by the destructive energy that their scientists have released from particles of matter.
The self-glorification of nations lies at the root of war, the conviction that “it is right to pursue the interests of one's own nation however they may conflict with those of others” (Russell, p. 78). The proclamation of superiority and special rights, interests, and virtues is tolerated, even applauded, when put forth by the leaders and citizens of national collectivities, whereas such behaviors or attitudes would be regarded as unacceptable if expressed by individuals.
Aggression in our technologically sophisticated age takes bizarre, remote forms. It is difficult to find the locus of responsibility for it among advanced systems of computers, strange weaponry, distant institutions, sanitized language and elaborate justifications. But it is diffusely present nevertheless, complexly organized in our war institutions, multinational corporate structures, and related collective organizations. It comes to the surface more readily when national and subnational groups experience real or imagined injuries to their collective egoism.
Freud and those who have followed him, working with individual patients, have identified the unconscious psychological forces that limit the possibilities of human well-being and fulfillment. Collective human phenomena, such as international conflict, represent a