Blind Trust Large Groups and Their Leaders in Times of Crisis and Terror

by Volkan, Vamik

• ISBN13: 9780972887533
• ISBN10: 0972887539
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-11-15
• Publisher: Pitchstone Publishing

Summary

Studying the often mercurial and destructive relationship between leaders and their followers, the author applies his knowledge of depth psychology to the cauldrons of greatest unrest throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East--and illuminates the psychological bases of war, revolution, massacres and terror, offering insight into the minds of Osama bin Laden, David Koresh and other destructive leaders.

Author Biography

Vamik Volkan, MD, an emeritus professor of psychiatry and founder of the Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction at the University of Virginia, has been a member of the Carter Center’s International Negotiation Network and an Inaugural Rabin Fellow at the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies in Tel Aviv. He is the author of numerous books, including Blood Lines and The Need to Have Enemies and Allies. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Introduction: From the Couch to the Negotiating Table	p. 11
Large-group psychology
The Seven Threads of Large-Group Identity	p. 23
Regression: Plunging Back Into a World of Fear and Desire	p. 56
Rituals That Bind People Together	p. 88
Psychology of religious fundamentalism
From Waco to the Bamian Valley	p. 113
From the Bamian Valley to Iraq	p. 139
Leadership and personality
"A Decisive Trifle"	p. 171
Force of Narcissism	p. 189
Leaders as Teachers	p. 215
A case study
Albania: From Regression to Progression	p. 233
Coda	p. 260
Acknowledgments	p. 263
Notes	p. 265
Bibliography	p. 331
Index	p. 351
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