17- Saddam Hussein's Leadership Style
Margaret G. HermannThis leadership profile of Saddam Hussein is based on an analysis of
his responses to the domestic and international press in fifteen inter-
views between 1979 and the present. The description that follows is
derived from an at-a-distance assessment of some twenty-one thou-
sand words. The words are examined for evidence of seven different
characteristics that have implications for how heads of state will
behave, the kinds of actions they are likely to urge on their govern-
ments, and the way they structure and interact with their advisory
systems. An individual leader's traits are put into perspective by
comparing them with similar scores for other heads of state more
generally and from the particular region. The characteristics are also
contextualized by exploring how stable they are across issues, audi-
ences, and time. The attributes that define the profile are those that
historians, journalists, political scientists, and other students of lead-
ership have found to be influential in shaping what leaders will do
politically. The traits that are examined are (i) nationalism, (2) the
belief that one can influence or control what happens, (3) the need for
power and influence, (4) conceptual complexity (the ability to differ-
entiate things and people in one's environment), (5) one's general
distrust or suspiciousness of others, (6) one's self-confidence or self-
esteem, and (7) the tendency to focus on problem solving and accom-
plishing something versus maintenance of the group and dealing
with others' ideas and sensitivities. The at-a-distance technique is
described in more detail in chapter 8.
Several types of verbal material were available on Saddam Hus-
sein: speeches, proclamations, messages, and press interviews. Since
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