The Cult of Osama

ISBN: 9780275999896

出版年: 2007-11

页数: 214

定价: $ 50.79

内容简介

In "The Cult of Osama", a psychiatrist examines Osama bin Laden's early life experiences and explains, from a psychoanalytical perspective, how those created a mind filled with rage at America, as well as why his way of thinking makes him in many cases a hero to Arab and Muslim youths. "Many other writings totally demonize bin Laden, and therein strangely play into putting this troubled man onto a pedestal," writes the author. There are many journalistic, political, military and intelligence books about bin Laden and his terror cult group. But this one offers a purely psychological and psychobiographical perspective on bin Laden and his mushrooming influence. Bin Laden's destructive "Pied Piper" appeal, leading youths to murder others and even themselves in suicide missions, stems from the peculiar and profoundly important synchrony of shared trauma and pain between bin Laden and Arab/Muslim youth, argues the author.The author traces the psychological threads of narcissistic wounds and unresolved grief from Osama's childhood, including the death of his father when Osama was 10, separation from his mother even earlier, the humiliation of Osama as the "son of a slave" in his father's household, and his lifelong search for surrogate older brother and father figures among radical Islamist teachers and mentors. The author also spotlights the idea that Osama experienced "dark epiphanies" as a young adult which further magnified and focused his unresolved disappointments and narcissistic rage. The author also shows us how understanding the psychohistory and mindset of bin Laden could help prevent the development and actions of home-grown American and Western terrorists as well as their cells.