Foundation for the Study of Political Pathology

The Psychology of War, Genocide, and Terrorism

Toward Conversation

For years, our Foundation has shared Newsletters exploring the psychology of war, genocide and terrorism—ideas many of you have read and reflected upon

Now, we’re entering a new phase: from one-way communication to conversation.

We’ll be inviting readers to join in these video discussions—informal, thoughtful conversations to engage directly with issues of political forms of violence.

You are one of the seven thousand+ people who has been receiving these newsletters for many years.

—Richard A. Koenigsberg, PhD

—Andrew Hammer, Executive Director Foundation for the Study of Political Pathology

PS: Thank you for being part of this work. Take the time to enjoy the video interview below with one of the important scholars with whom Richard has interacted, discussing the themes of warfare and genocide.

Richard Koenigsberg with Robert Samuels: Psychoanalysis, Hitler, and Politics

(To watch the video click the arrow above.)

In this wide-ranging and reflective interview, Richard Koenigsberg, director of the Library of Social Science, discusses his psychoanalytic approach to understanding Hitler, National Socialism, and political ideology. He argues that the Holocaust was a function of warfare, with Hitler justifying genocide through a logic of sacrifice, connecting the deaths of German soldiers to the destruction of the Jews. Koenigsberg delves into the psychological roots of ideology, particularly the fantasy of an omnipotent object—like the nation—internalized by individuals and leaders such as Hitler.

About

Robert Samuels, PhD

Robert Samuels is a psychoanalyst, author, and lecturer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he teaches advanced writing and rhetoric. Holding doctorates in both English and Psychoanalysis, Dr. Samuels bridges the worlds of theory, politics, and everyday life through a distinctly psychoanalytic lens.

His work explores how unconscious processes shape ideology, culture, and media—from the psychology of political polarization to the hidden desires driving our digital age. He is the author of more than ten books, including The Psychopathology of Political Ideologies, Freud for the Twenty-First Century, and Psychoanalyzing the Left and Right after Donald Trump.

For a list of books Dr. Samuels has published, click here to see his Amazon page.