🎯 Claim
Colonial projects turned narcissism into a deliberate weapon. Self-regard, entitlement, and disregard for others justified taking and keeping power, and elevated people willing to conquer, dispossess, and destroy without remorse. Intelligence agencies later formalized the lever: heavy narcissistic traits make a person easy to steer as an asset, because hunger for approval and fear of shame hand someone else the dial.
📑 Grounding
CIA paper “The Psychology of Espionage” links narcissists’ “deep hunger for affirmation” to manipulation risk; CIA psychologist Ursula Wilder profiles the “dark tetrad” in leaders, showing shame sensitivity and need for glory. Research on vulnerable narcissism ties heavy reliance on outside approval to status-based influence. Source: The Psychology of Espionage (PDF), Wilder on profiling world leaders (CBS News), Durham: narcissism and abusive supervision
