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Strongly influenced by the current and repetitious devastation of human lives and of humanistic values not only by war, terrorism, and fundamentalism, but also by the trend in Europe to dismantle the social welfare state and build society on the basic assumption of the assumed benevolence and omnipotence of the idealized “market”, I started to write these reflections. My point of departure was that the individual and society mutually create each other and that psychoanalytic knowledge about organizations as well about individual development may be of assistance in understanding something of what happens with individuals and societies in times of war.
Notwithstanding the determinism on which psychoanalysis is based, focusing as it does on the fact that in the present we repeat phases of our earlier development, I emphasize our opportunities and ability to make choices. This ability is linked to our capacity to contain within ourselves contradictions, conflicts, assets, and limitations. The courage to choose, to dare to admit mistakes, and the ability to endure a certain measure of shame, anxiety and uncertainty, seem especially urgent at this time. Facing threats requires courage, mental fortitude, understanding, and a continuing effort to maintain dialogue, which can prevent individual or collective destructiveness. Speaking of war from a psychoanalytic perspective seems to be as appropriate and urgent as ever.
Lord Alderdice, a British psychotherapist and politician with many years of experience of working with the conflicts in Northern Ireland, emphasized in a speech he gave at the meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association in New York, January 2004, that the tactic of war is to create strong emotions and to destroy our capacity for reflection. There are no right solutions; the solution is to work continuously for a solution, that is, to never, ever give up. He stressed that politicians have a limitless desire to be respected and that they never forget, nor