Bloodlines: From Ethnic Pride to Ethnic Terrorism
Editorial Reviews
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A psychoanalyst at the University of Virginia, Vamik Volkan tries to apply the wisdom of his profession to the problem of international conflict resolution. He offers a new vocabulary that illuminates concepts such as nationalism and ethnic pride in helpful ways, and is always careful to connect his theories to lessons from the real world. And as a native of the strife-torn island of Cyprus, Volkan knows his subject intimately. Blood Lines lacks an overarching thesis, but it also rewards readers with details and observations not to be found elsewhere. Those who enjoyed Samuel Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order or Robert Kaplan's Ends of the Earth will appreciate Blood Lines.
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Card catalog description
In Bloodlines, Vamik Volkan, a world-renowned psychiatrist specializing in international relations, explores ethnic violence by examining history and diplomacy through a psychoanalytic lens. Dr. Volkan leads the reader on investigative tours of battlegrounds in the Middle East, Russia, Turkey, Cyprus, the Baltics, and the Balkans. In Serbia, he discovers that the Battle of Kosovo, fought in 1389, is the rallying cry for modern nationalists, who view the past as prophecy. In Turkey, PKK terrorist leader Apo reveals that he still considers himself an unloved child and orders his army of Kurdish women to remain virgins because of his own disgust with "unclean" adult behavior. In Latvia, after the dissolution of the USSR, Dr. Volkan learns that ethnic Latvians plan to disinter corpses and segregate cemeteries in an attempt to establish a national identity separate from that of Russia. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, Dr. Volkan analyzes these issues of identity formation, perceived versus real threats, the persistence of past traumas, and the desire for revenge. The result is a work that lays the foundation for understanding the differences between ethnic groups as well as the common ground they share.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Bloodlines: From Ethnic Pride to Ethnic Terrorism,Vamik Volkan,Westview Press,0813390389,Anthropology - Cultural,Ethnic Studies - General,General,Politics - Current Events,Politics / Current Events
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