A Psychoanalytic Study of Political Leadership in the United States and Russia: Searching for Truth

A Psychoanalytic Study of Political Leadership in the United States and Russia: Searching for Truth provides psychoanalytic insight into the motives of this complex and contradictory figure.

The contributors, from different professional and academic backgrounds, use a range of methods including quantitative research and literary analysis to shed light on Putin’s background, outlook and current actions. Reflecting a range of perspectives on how Putin’s background may have informed his beliefs and his actions, particularly with respect to the invasion of Ukraine, the book brings together diverse viewpoints.

A Psychoanalytic Study of Political Leadership in the United States and Russia will be of great interest to psychoanalysts and to readers seeking to understand the complex dynamics of populist leadership.

Karyne E. Messina, Ed.D., is a licensed psychologist and psychoanalyst, and is on the medical staff of Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. She is a Training and Supervision Analyst at the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis. Her books include Misogyny, Projective Identification and Mentalization: Psychoanalytic, Social and Institutional Manifestations and Resurgence of Global Populism: A Psychoanalytic Study of Blame-Shifting and the Corruption of Democracy.