Warlords, in the words of American political scientist Lucian Pye, were "instinctively suspicious, quick to suspect that their interests might be threatened, hard-headed, devoted to the short run and impervious to idealistic abstractions".
Panglima perang, dalam kata-kata ilmuwan politik Amerika Lucian Pye, "secara naluriah curiga, cepat curiga bahwa kepentingan mereka mungkin terancam ... keras kepala, dikhususkan untuk jangka pendek dan tahan terhadap abstraksi yang idealistik".