Galtung, J. (1996, October). Global projections of deep-rooted U.S. pathologies (Occasional Paper No. 11). Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University.
https://doi.org/10.13021/MARS/8542
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Deep Dive Audio Overview | The Deep Pathologies of the American Psyche
Source: Galtung, J. (1996, October). Global projections of deep-rooted U.S. pathologies (Occasional Paper No. 11). Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University. p.15, p11
https://doi.org/10.13021/MARS/8542
Critique | Subconscious Mechanics of U.S. Foreign Policy
Debate | Pathology or Realpolitik in US Foreign Policy
Video Explainer | Deep-Rooted U.S. Pathologies
Please click on Infographic to enlarge
Executive Summary
1. Introduction: The Roots of U.S. Violence This report explores the high frequency of U.S. engagement in international violence, identifying the United States as the top-ranking nation on the “War Participation Index”. The author argues that this belligerence cannot be fully explained by rational self-interest or standard political theories (such as liberalism or Marxism) alone. Instead, U.S. foreign policy is profoundly influenced by a “collective subconscious” — a shared set of unarticulated assumptions, myths, and repressed emotions that guide decision-making elites and generate mass consensus for violent action.
2. Theoretical Framework: The Pathological Syndromes The analysis rests on three interlocking psychological complexes rooted in U.S. history and culture:
- The CMT Syndrome (Chosenness-Myths-Traumas):
- Chosenness: The conviction that the U.S. is a covenanted nation “under God,” with a divine mandate to lead the world (Manifest Destiny). This includes the belief that U.S. citizens and interests are of a higher order than those of other nations.
- Myths: Cultural narratives such as the “Melting Pot,” the inherent morality of the “Free Market,” and the U.S. as the “hegemon’s hegemon” or final arbiter of global disputes.
- Traumas: Unresolved historical wounds, including the fear of “the Other” striking back (rooted in the history of slavery and Native American genocide), the trauma of the Civil War, and the “wars not won” (Vietnam, Korea).
- The DMA Syndrome (Dichotomy-Manicheism-Armageddon):
- Dichotomy & Manicheism: A worldview that divides the globe into watertight compartments of “Good” (Self/U.S.) and “Evil” (Other/Enemy), leaving no room for neutrality or compromise.
- Armageddon: The belief that the struggle between Good and Evil can only be resolved through a final, violent confrontation, making violence appear as a divinely sanctioned necessity.
- The RP Complex (Repression-Projection):
- The mechanism by which the U.S. represses its own aggressive history and projects violent characteristics onto the “Other,” thereby justifying pre-emptive or retaliatory violence.
3. Global Projections: Case Studies in Violence The report applies these archetypes to specific historical events to illustrate how the collective subconscious dictates policy:
- Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Analyzed not merely as a military necessity, but as “punishment” for the sacrilege of Pearl Harbor. The atomic bomb was the “ultimate weapon” reserved for the “ultimate crime” of attacking the chosen people.
- The Cold War: The Soviet Union filled the vacuum of the “Evil Other” required by the DMA syndrome. The conflict was sustained by the projection of aggressiveness onto the Soviets to satisfy the internal need for a Manichean struggle.
- The Gulf War: Represented an attempt to overcome the “Vietnam Syndrome” (a trauma) and re-establish U.S. invincibility. Saddam Hussein was cast as the new “Evil,” allowing for the enactment of a “righteous” war.
- Cuba Policy: The enduring hostility toward Cuba is viewed as punishment for “heresy” — defiance of the U.S. mandate in the Western Hemisphere — rather than a rational response to a security threat.
4. Prognosis and Therapy
- Prognosis: If these deep-rooted pathologies remain unprocessed, the U.S. risks a “decline and fall” similar to previous empires. The country may cling to military power as its legitimacy erodes, driven toward “its own extinction” by the compulsion to intervene globally.
Therapy: The author suggests that the “bulb must want to change itself”. Recommended therapeutic steps include:
- Lifting Narratives to Daylight: Exposing and critiquing national myths and recognizing the “shadow” side of U.S. history (e.g., acknowledging the “Red” and “Black” holocausts).
- Disarmament: Moving away from being a “bully with weapons”.
- Empowering Civil Society: Shifting focus from the state apparatus to NGOs, women, and people’s organizations, which are less beholden to the violent archetypes of the collective subconscious.