Leaders and their followers in a dangerous world : the psychology of political behavior /
What impels leaders to lead and followers to follow? How did Osama bin Laden, the son of a multibillionaire construction magnate in Saudi Arabia, become the world's number one terrorist? What are the psychological foundations of man's inhumanity to man, ethnic cleansing, and genocide? Jerr...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Ithaca :
Cornell University Press,
2004.
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| Series: | Psychoanalysis and social theory.
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| Online Access: | Table of contents Table of contents Table of contents |
| Summary: | What impels leaders to lead and followers to follow? How did Osama bin Laden, the son of a multibillionaire construction magnate in Saudi Arabia, become the world's number one terrorist? What are the psychological foundations of man's inhumanity to man, ethnic cleansing, and genocide? Jerrold M. Post contends that such questions can be answered only through an understanding of the psychological foundations of leader personality and political behavior. Post was founding director of the Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior for the CIA. He developed the political personality profiles of Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat for President Jimmy Carter's use at the Camp David talks and initiated the U.S. government's research program on the psychology of political terrorism. He was awarded the Intelligence Medal of Merit in 1979 for his leadership of the center. In this book, he draws on psychological and personality theories, as well as interviews with individual terrorists and those who have interacted with particular leaders, to discuss a range of issues: the effects of illness and age on a leader's political behavior; narcissism and the relationship between followers and a charismatic leader; the impact of crisisinduced stress on policymakers; the mind of the terrorist, with a consideration of "killing in the name of God"; and the need for enemies and the rise of ethnic conflict and terrorism in the postCold War environment. The leaders he discusses include Fidel Castro, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, and Slobodan Milosevic. |
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| Physical Description: | xvii, 302 pages : illustrations |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-291) and index. |
| ISBN: | 0801441692 9780801441691 |