You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Published in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Terrorism and War is a joint effort by the editors of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Journal of Analytic Psychology, and the British Journal of Psychotherapy to assemble a collection of papers that could serve to address the many psychological questions raised by the attacks. The three journals represent the three “strands” of depth psychology (psychoanalysis, analytic psychology, and psychoanalytic psychotherapy) found in the British Confederation of Psychotherapists.
The volume is a collection including classic works, beginning with Freud's “Why War?” correspondence with Einstein of 1932, as well as recent publications and previously unpublished papers. The book is divided into four sections entitled “Terrorism”, “Hatred, Enmity, and Revenge”, “Why War?” and “The Aftermath of War”.
A thoughtful introductory essay by Lord John Alderdice, a psychiatrist who has served as speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly and is active in the European Liberal Democrat movement, will surprise Americans who are not used to their politicians combining depth psychology with political and historical analysis. Alderdice's involvement in the web of Irish politics has served him well. He describes the continuity of terrorism with other forms of political action. He finds in terrorism a reaction to humiliation, a deep-seated need for respect.
The first section, “Terrorism” is a smorgasbord made up for the most part by essays written by psychoanalysts in response to the September 11 attacks in addition to two previously published papers by Ronald Britton and Salman Akhtar.
Britton's very brief essay invokes the medieval Norsemen to remind us that suicide as a means of gaining divine approval is not a new phenomenon, and is not uniquely Islamic. Phillip Ringstrom's essay is an attempt, employing some