“In these complex and worrying times, this study could not be more timely.”
—Justice Richard Goldstone

About the Book

Blind Trust is the culmination of over three decades of profound immersion in the most pressing sociopolitical conflicts of our time, by the psychoanalyst with probably the most direct experience with such issues of any in the  world. The author applies his knowledge of depth psychology to the turbulent and destructive human experiences in the current cauldrons of the greatest unrest and disaster throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Drawing on his childhood as a Turk living in Cyprus during recurrent struggles with Cypriot Greeks, and currently from his unique position at the University of Virginia in the heart of Jeffersonian America, Volkan writes of activities of astonishing import, as he served as envoy, negotiator, and consultant, on commissions from the United Nations to the American Psychiatric, in trouble spots from Israel to Egypt, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Kuwait, both halves of post-War Berlin, and the Soviet Union. Illuminating the etiologic bases of war, revolution, massacres, and terror, as these have disturbed the world from ancient times to modern civilization, his voice speaks for the imperative of reason and the application of modern analytic knowledge for conflict resolution at the highest levels.

Volkan’s subjects are large groups and their leaders. Windows into the lives of the Prophet Muhammad, Stalin, Milosevic, Osama Bin Laden, and David Koresh are interspersed with examinations of religion and fundamentalism and a sober study of suicide attackers. Volkan’s detailed and scholarly description of regressive movements in large-group identities, complemented by an equal attention to progressive and creative reparative forces, represents  a significant expansion of our understanding of group psychology.

About the Author

Vamık D. Volkan is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia. His thirty books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Details

ISBN: 0972887539
Format: paperback
SRP: $19.95
Page count: 368 pages
Trim size: 6 x 9
Pub date: April 2004

Previously available in hardcover (ISBN: 0972887520; SRP: $29.95)

“Vamık Volkan, the world's foremost expert on traumatized societies, developed many of the concepts that are the key to understanding protracted ethnoreligious conflicts. In this captivating memoir, he takes the reader on a tour through a world of war, at the same time teaching his readers about the impact of large-group regression and chosen traumas. He is the rare psychoanalyst who ventures out of the office into the wider world.”
—Jessica Stern, author of Terror in the Name of God and former member of President Bill Clinton's National Security Council staff

About the Book

For more than thirty years, renowned psychoanalyst Vamik D. Volkan has applied the theories of his profession to societies in conflict, venturing into cauldrons of unrest as observer, mediator, and practitioner. In this volume, he shares his experiences facilitating dialogue between opposing enemy groups, in numerous contexts and conflict zones, and presents the pioneering theoretical and practical frameworks he developed. In the process, he provides a unique window onto watershed moments of the recent past—from major historical events, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and continued violence in the Middle East. The findings and observations presented in this volume provide not only a new way of looking at recent historical events, but also offer a novel set of tools for understanding and shaping the present and future.

About the Author

Vamık D. Volkan is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia. He is widely considered to be the world's foremost expert on the psychology of war-torn societies.

Details

ISBN: 9781939578327
Format: paperback
SRP: $35.00
Page count: 504 pages
Trim size: 6 x 9
Pub date: August 2013

“Vamık and Kevin Volkan have brought us a brilliant, relevant and powerful work that fulfills the deeply seated need for a way to think about the unthinkable.”
—Aileen Kim, MD, past president of the Virginia Psychoanalytic Society

About the Book

Human Aggression, War and Genocide explores sociopolitical phenomena through the lens of psychoanalysis and neuroscience, concentrating on concepts like aggression, leadership, and the psychology of ethnic, national, religious, and ideological large groups. Drawing inspiration from the famous “ Why war?” exchange between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud that examined the psychological roots of war and violence, the authors expand on that discussion to examine racism, large-group dynamics, chosen traumas and chosen glories, and the relationship between leaders and their followers. Offering psychological analysis and insight into historical and contemporary conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars, they provide a novel insights for understanding the psychological conditions that lead to large-scale human aggression, war, and genocide.

About the Author

Vamik D. Volkan, MD, is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia and an Emeritus Senior Erik Erikson Scholar at the Erikson Institute of the Austen Riggs Center. He is the Emeritus President of the International Dialogue Initiative and a former President of the Turkish-American Neuropsychiatric Society, the International Society of Political Psychology, the Virginia Psychoanalytic Society and the American College of Psychoanalysts. Dr. Volkan was a member of the International Negotiation Network under the directorship of former President Jimmy Carter.

Kevin Volkan EdD, PhD, MPH, is professor of psychology at California State University Channel Islands. He is also Adjunct Professor in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at California Lutheran University and adjunct faculty in the Clinical Psychology PhD Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. He holds doctorates in clinical and quantitative psychology, is a graduate of the Harvard School of Public Health, and a former Harvard Medical School faculty member.

Details

ISBN: 9781634312684
Format: paperback
SRP: $25.00
Page count: 254 pages
Trim size: 6 x 9
Pub date: March 2024

“A very unique and powerful addition to our understanding of what motivates the use of terrorism as a political tool. The question ‘Who are we now?’ animates this timely book, exploring the forces that are changing individual and group identity and leading to a rise in religiously motivated terrorism. I especially appreciated the psychocultural dimensions of this work, and the context it provided for creating more systemic approaches to preventing terrorism.”
—Eileen F. Babbitt, PhD, Director, Institute for Human Security, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

About the Book

In this timely multidimensional study, historian Jouni Suistola and psychoanalyst Vamık D. Volkan draw on their respective disciplines and their own personal and professional experiences to investigate the historical and psychological roots of terrorism. Specifically, what is it in human nature that allows people to terrorize and kill the other, and what societal factors—whether political, economic, or religious—lead to terrorism? And, in turn, how might terrorist ideologies and groups be defeated, especially when a society’s realistic fears are contaminated with xenophobia, racism, and fantasized dangers? Focusing specifically on modern-day radical Islamist terrorism, the authors argue that studying the minds of individual terrorists can tell us something about those individuals, but that only by examining the deeper historical, political, and society-wide psychological processes at work will we be able to uncover the core causes of terrorism. Only through such understanding, they conclude, will the world be positioned to prevent further radicalization and create lasting and peaceful solutions to the seemingly intractable problem of terrorist violence.

About the Author

Jouni Suistola, PhD, studied history and social sciences at Oulu University. He served as professor of international relations at Near East University in Nicosia. Vamık Volkan, MD, studied medicine at the University of Ankara, Turkey. He is an emeritus professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia.

Details

ISBN: 9781634311304
Format: paperback
SRP: $24.95
Page count: 184 pages
Trim size: 6 x 9
Pub date: September 2017