For policy planners, diplomats, and political and military strategists, accurate personality profiling of leaders is a vital tool, and this fascinating book explores the latest techniques for gauging the psychological traits and behavioral tendencies of individuals and groups, with a surprising degree of predictive insight. Whether the goal is to understand a politician's motives, to assess an enemy's true threat, or to identify productive ways to approach negotiating partners, the methods presented here offer a comprehensive approach to the often thorny problem of gathering and analyzing psychological data, even with a minimum of direct evidence.
Thirty years ago, editor Jerrold M. Post was asked to create a pilot program for at-a-distance evaluation of foreign leaders for senior government officials. Over time, he assembled an advisory group drawing on a variety of disciplines from political psychology to psycholinguistics, each adding a new dimension to this challenging task. Now, for the first time in a single volume, these experts explain the strengths and weaknesses of each methodology and show how they can be integrated into a useful, systematic response to the ever-changing, highly time-sensitive circumstances of world affairs.