The Psychology of Dictators

Explore the minds behind history's worst atrocities and what they reveal about power, evil, and human nature.

How does someone hurt a hundred thousand, starve their own people, or order an execution? Humanity has always imagined monsters - but our worst monsters have been real, and human - put there by us, through active revolt or unspoken complicity.

This talk takes us on a tour from Pol Pot to Putin, from the Leviathan to the Levant, and from China to Chávez, asking how some humans become the darkest figures of their time in spite of a fervour for good intentions.

Together, we'll explore the patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour common to tyrants and autocrats - stepping into the mind of a dictator, not to excuse evil, but to understand how to stop it.

Get your tickets now for The Psychology of Dictators in London!