Luncheon Discussion

The moderator stressed the UN trilogy of the Secretariat, the non-governmental organization (NGO) community and the member states. In providing a holding

environment, the UN can make a difference. It is a safe place to speak about ideas and differences, rather than acting out intolerance and violence. She referred to the Secretariat as the ‘good-enough father’ and the NGO community as the ‘good-enough nurturing mother’.

Otto Kernberg founded CUN when IPA President. He noted that his wife, Paulina, consulted with the United States Department of State in the case of a young Cuban refugee, Elian Gonzalez, and she assisted in his return to Cuba. She made it clear that she acted from a scientific and professional viewpoint and transcended political-ideological limitations. The founder suggested that CUN has two major roles, one with the IPA and the other with the UN. A principal function of the Committee could be a synthesis of current psychoanalytic knowledge regarding the origin and maintenance of violence in totalitarian religions, cultures and governments to be provided to the UN. In his view, any totalitarianism is a universal danger and a universal temptation. He referred to the work of Vamik Volkan in studying large group regression in totalitarian ideologies . Research by the IPA on the mutual social and cultural influences on early development and distortions of ideologies into paranoid directions needs to be increased. Both action and information are needed, but we should be aware that sometimes information is used to retard action.

Mr. Shashi Tharoor, UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information (New York), began his comments with a reference to Ralph Bunche, African-American Nobel Laureate, and one of the chief advisors to the delegation responsible for drafting the UN Charter. In 1949, he was assigned the task of hammering out an agreement between the newly founded state of Israel and Palestine. Mr. Tharoor spoke of him as one who und