Is Psychology Geopolitics on a Personal Scale?

That the human being is a microcosm is an ancient concept. Shakespeare literalizes it in A Comedy of Errors when he writes, “She was spherical like a globe. I could find out countries in her.”

But what if instead of comparing the body to a globe, we compared the mind to it? What if we took seriously the idea of the self as a kind of arena where friendly and hostile countries (drives, values, worldviews, desires, goals) were engaged in a complex interdependent scheme?

Are you a globalized self with one hegemonic system setting the agenda for every aspect of who you are, or are you more balkanized?

Which parts of yourself run a trade deficit and which a trade surplus? That is, what parts of you are consumers/importers of knowledge and value and what parts of you are producers/exporters?

Does the chief executive in your mind have term limits? Have you ever experienced a coup or foreign invasion? Why are some parts of yourself “developed” while other parts still “developing”?

How would you extend the metaphor?