ABSTRACT
Each tribe or nation invariably produces stereotypes of its neighbours and of other, more or less familiar, tribes. Such stereotypes are often half-respectful and half-scornful. The study of stereotypes is important, but not because it has the power to destroy them; rational arguments and statistics are probably helpless in the face of deeply ingrained images. The Nazis certainly did their skilful and efficient best to exploit and reinforce that stereotype when the Germans found themselves in need of a scapegoat on which to hang the blame for their misery; but it was this misery and despair that made the Nazi programme of genocide acceptable. Countries that have never been at war, or only for a short time, tend to form more benign stereotypes of each other – although even these are seldom entirely innocent or entirely positive.
