TY - JOUR
T1 - Antisocial Personality Disorder and Pathological Narcissism in Prolonged Conflicts and Wars of the 21st Century
AU - Burkle, Frederick M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2015.
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/2/1
Y1 - 2016/2/1
N2 - The end of the Cold War brought with it many protracted internal conflicts and wars that have lasted for decades and whose persistent instability lies at the heart of both chronic nation-state and regional instability. Responsibility for these chronically failed states has been attributed to multiple unresolved root causes. With previous governance and parties to power no longer trusted or acceptable, the vacuum of leadership in many cases has been filled with bad leadership. This Concept piece argues that in a number of cases opportunistic leaders, suffering from severe antisocial character disorders, have emerged first as saviors and then as despots, or as common criminals claiming to be patriots, sharing a psychological framework that differs little from those responsible for World War II and the Cold War that followed. I describe the identifying characteristics of this unique and poorly understood subset of the population who are driven to seek the ultimate opportunity to control, dictate, and live out their fantasies of power on the world scene and discuss why their destructive actions remain unabated in the 21st century. Their continued antisocial presence, influence, and levels of violence must be seen as a global security and strategic issue that is not amenable to conventional diplomatic interventions, negotiations, mediations, or international sanctions.
AB - The end of the Cold War brought with it many protracted internal conflicts and wars that have lasted for decades and whose persistent instability lies at the heart of both chronic nation-state and regional instability. Responsibility for these chronically failed states has been attributed to multiple unresolved root causes. With previous governance and parties to power no longer trusted or acceptable, the vacuum of leadership in many cases has been filled with bad leadership. This Concept piece argues that in a number of cases opportunistic leaders, suffering from severe antisocial character disorders, have emerged first as saviors and then as despots, or as common criminals claiming to be patriots, sharing a psychological framework that differs little from those responsible for World War II and the Cold War that followed. I describe the identifying characteristics of this unique and poorly understood subset of the population who are driven to seek the ultimate opportunity to control, dictate, and live out their fantasies of power on the world scene and discuss why their destructive actions remain unabated in the 21st century. Their continued antisocial presence, influence, and levels of violence must be seen as a global security and strategic issue that is not amenable to conventional diplomatic interventions, negotiations, mediations, or international sanctions.
KW - antisocial personality disorder
KW - humanitarian crises and aid
KW - internal wars
KW - narcissism
KW - narcissistic personality disorder
KW - negotiations
KW - war and conflict
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U2 - 10.1017/dmp.2015.113
DO - 10.1017/dmp.2015.113
M3 - Review article
C2 - 26456397
AN - SCOPUS:84959572439
VL - 10
SP - 118
EP - 128
JO - Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
JF - Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
SN - 1935-7893
IS - 1
ER -