A Psychoanalytic Study of Political Leadership in the United States and Russia

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.

PART 1: Looking Within

1.Why the Truth is Essential in a Democracy: Pivoting Toward Evidence

Karyne E. Messina

2.Observations, Knowledge, and Speculation: What We Know and Don’t

Know About Vladimir Putin

Karyne E. Messina

PART 2: Understanding Vladimir Putin from an Eastern European Perspective

3.Interpreting Vladimir Putin from Afar Leads to Over-Simplification of Very Complex Relationships

Harry Gill

PART 3: Investigating Vladimir Putin’s Personality: How Trauma Affected His Development

4. Zeitenwende: Vladimir Putin’s Effort to Reestablish the Russian/Post-Soviet Empire

Peter W. Petschauer

5. Invasion of Ukraine: Observations On Leader-Follower Relationships

Vamik Volkan and Jana Javakhishvili

PART 4: Quantitative Research Conducted by a Preeminent Researcher

6. Measuring the Mental Functioning of Putin, Trump, and Zelensky

Robert Gordon

PART 5: A Scholar Looks at Vladimir Putin through the Lens of Russian Literature

7. Dear Vladimir Putin: If you’ve Read Dostoyevsky, You’ve Tragically Misunderstood Him—Austin Ratner on Russian Imperialism and Misreading The Brothers Karamazov

Austin Ratner

Conclusion