Narcissists, Group Behavior, and Terrorism - Part IV

Terrorists can be phenomenologically described as narcissists in a constant state of deficient narcissistic supply. The "grandiosity gap" - the painful and narcissistically injurious gap between their grandiose fantasies and their dreary and humiliating reality - becomes emotionally insupportable. They decompensate and act out. They bring "down to their level" (by destroying it) the object of their pathological envy, the cause of their seething frustration, the symbol of their dull achievements, always incommensurate with their inflated self-image.

They seek omnipotence through murder, control (not least self control) through violence, prestige, fame and celebrity by defying figures of authorities, challenging them, and humbling them. Unbeknownst to them, they seek self punishment. They are at heart suicidal. They aim to cast themselves as victims by forcing others to punish them. This is called "projective identification". They attribute evil and corruption to their enemies and foes. These forms of paranoia are called projection and splitting. These are all primitive, infantile, and often persecutory, defense mechanisms.

When coupled with narcissism - the inability to empathize, the exploitativeness, the sense of entitlement, the rages, the dehumanization and devaluation of others - this mindset yields abysmal contempt. The overriding emotion of terrorists and serial killers, the amalgam and culmination of their tortured psyche - is deep seated disdain for everything human, the flip side of envy. It is cognitive dissonance gone amok. On the one hand the terrorist derides as "false", "meaningless", "dangerous", and "corrupt" common values, institutions, human intercourse, and society. On the other hand, he devotes his entire life (and often risks it) to the elimination and pulverization of these "insignificant" entities. To justify this apparent contradiction, the terrorists casts himself as an altruistic saviour of a group of people "endangered" by his foes. He is always self-appointed and self-proclaimed, rarely elected. The serial killer rationalizes and intellectualizes his murders similarly, by purporting to "liberate" or "deliver" his victims from a fate worse than death.

The global reach, the secrecy, the impotence and growing panic of his victims, of the public, and of his pursuers, the damage he wreaks - all serve as external ego functions. The terrorist and serial killer regulate their sense of self esteem and self worth by feeding slavishly on the reactions to their heinous deeds. Their cosmic significance is daily enhanced by newspaper headlines, ever increasing bounties, admiring imitators, successful acts of blackmail, the strength and size of their opponents, and the devastation of human life and property. Appeasement works only to aggravate their drives and strengthen their appetites by emboldening them and by raising the threshold of excitation and "narcissistic supply". Terrorists and killers are addicted to this drug of being acknowledged and reflected. They derive their sense of existence, parasitically, from the reactions of their (often captive) audience.

I wrote in the article Islam and Liberalism published by Global Politician:"

Islam is not merely a religion. It is also - and perhaps, foremost - a state ideology. It is all-pervasive and missionary. It permeates every aspect of social cooperation and culture. It is an organizing principle, a narrative, a philosophy, a value system, and a vade mecum. In this it resembles Confucianism and, to some extent, Hinduism. Militant Islam is, therefore, not a cancerous mutation of "true" Islam. On the contrary, it is the purest expression of its nature as an imperialistic religion which demands unmitigated obedience from its followers and regards all infidels as both inferior and avowed enemies. The same can be said about Democratic Liberalism. Like Islam, it does not hesitate to exercise force, is missionary, colonizing, and regards itself as a monopolist of the "truth" and of "universal values". Its antagonists are invariably portrayed as depraved, primitive, and below par. Such mutually exclusive claims were bound to lead to an all-out conflict sooner or later. The "War on Terrorism" is only the latest round in a millennium-old confrontation between Islam and other "world systems".

This is not a clash of civilizations. Western culture is inextricably intertwined with Islamic knowledge, teachings, and philosophy. Christian fundamentalists have more in common with Muslim militants than with East Coast or French intellectuals. Muslims have always been the West's most defining Other. Islamic existence and "gaze" helped to mold the West's emerging identity as a historical construct. From Spain to India, the incessant friction and fertilizing interactions with Islam shaped Western values, beliefs, doctrines, moral tenets, political and military institutions, arts, and sciences. This war is about world domination. Two incompatible thought and value systems compete for the hearts and minds (and purchasing power) of the denizens of the global village. Like in the Westerns, by high noon, either one of them is left standing - or both will have perished."

Like many of their historical predecessors, many Muslim militants come from the ranks of the middle-class and are reasonably well-educated (students or professionals). They have been exposed to Western culture and civilization and found them grossly wanting. They hold the West to be morally decadent and degenerate. They believe that it is in the throes of rotting and disintegration and, therefore, weak. This is a window of opportunity they seek to exploit. They dream of replacing the West with a rigorous system of Islamic values, a restored social order, and newfound glory. In this they are no different to Jewish and Christian fundamentalists. The aim is the same: the eradication of four centuries of enlightenment and democratic liberalism. Only the choice of means sets Muslim militants apart from other religious die-hards.Paradoxically, the same Muslim fanatics who believe that the West is dying also decry its overwhelming military, technological, and financial superiority. The West, they complain, is thuggish and understands only the language of power. It bullies weaker nations and cultures into humiliating submission and assimilation. It must, therefore, be resisted by force. Force works - witness the successes in Kosovo (against the Serbs), in Lebanon and Gaza (against the Israelis), and in Chechnya (against Russia).

The sword is the only way also because the West, by its inalienable and unchangeable nature, is hostile to Islam. Muslims have been fighting Christians and Jews since the 10th century - sometimes in Europe and sometimes in Africa and the Middle East (during colonialism). This clash of civilizations is inevitable and the resolute and self-sacrificial party is likely to win it.

In a total war, believe Muslim militants, civilians are potential warriors and merit no special treatment or protection. The West itself makes no distinction between peaceful population and combatants, they point out. It invades Muslim territories, occupies holy places, slaughters tens of thousands of innocents, and, in general, ignores its own rules of engagement in warfare.

In the absence of legitimate political venues of airing grievances, terrorism is sometimes the only mode of expression. It also guarantees social mobility and respectability. It restores the terrorists' feelings of omnipotence, omnipresence ("we are everywhere and to be feared globally"), and omniscience ("we know best because we are the righteous") which are repeatedly shattered by the West's clear superiority in every conceivable field. Terrorism is, therefore, a form of mass therapy through shared psychosis. This is an especially insidious recipe. As long as people are narcissistically injured, envious, and rageful - terrorism is here to stay.