B X Lee -- Trump, Iran, and the Need for ‘Collective Psychotherapy’
Trump, Iran, and the Need for ‘Collective Psychotherapy’
How to Escape the Psychology of Violence, which Entraps and Annihilates
Donald Trump’s war on Iran has not produced the decisive victory he fantasized about; Tehran now “holds all the cards,” to use Trump’s own words. Iran is demanding, in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz—a global trade chokepoint that was open before this war of choice—an end to the blockade and war, U.S. withdrawal, sanctions relief, release of frozen assets, guarantees “never [to] threaten nor insult Iran in any language,” and reparations. It is effectively demanding these concessions upfront, because it does not trust Trump to honor promises afterward.
Foreign policy scholar and diplomat Philip Gordon wrote:
U.S. acceptance of Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz is an extraordinary outcome only made conceivable by an administration that squandered legitimacy, alienated allies, attempted regime change in a war it had not adequately prepared for….
U.S. and other countries are now being forced to accept [a catastrophic outcome without viable alternatives] that would have been unthinkable before the war but seems to have become unavoidable because of it.
Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group’s deputy program director for the Middle East and north Africa, stated that Donald Trump’s behavior:
boils down to his frustration that he really doesn’t have any good military options in front of him…. A lot of it is emotional reactions, like when he does a deal with Iran that produces a political backlash, even among Republicans.
That criticism gets under his skin, so he tries to extract better terms from Iran by bombing them. But when he ends up in an even worse position, he returns to the negotiating table….
Yet, Donald Trump blustered again on Axios: “We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.” Emphasizing that Iran “is in very bad shape” economically, while the U.S. is not, he said about his back-and-forth with Iran: “It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game.”
However, those who understand his psychological patterns will note that, while he may fantasize that he is playing a chess game, in reality it is more like setting the chess board on fire and hoping the flames do not spread too far….
The shrewdest generals understand that normal politics—or rationality itself—does not apply. Former White House Chief of Staff U.S. General John Kelly found my scholarship helpful. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. General Mark Milley upheld my specialized-knowledge book. And now, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. General Randy George agrees with me, as he stated an hour after announcing his resignation:
Donald Trump should definitely be hospitalized; I question his mental state.
He is leading the U.S. military toward disaster.
Donald Trump is psychiatrically dangerous and unfit to lead, because he is trapped in a psychology of violence. He has not yet learned the hard lesson that many violent offenders must, if they are to survive: that violence is ultimately self-defeating, and that those who live by the sword die by the sword.
Political theorist and philosopher Hannah Arendt observed in her reflection, On Violence, that power and violence are opposites. Indeed, bombing and military campaigns are “needed” only to the degree that one lacks true power, or moral authority, not to need them.
That violence is necessary and inevitable is usually delusional thinking, not reality. The destruction Donald Trump and his obedients wrought by force has produced neither political legitimacy nor submission. Instead, it has destroyed diplomatic possibilities, alienated allies, destabilized the global economy, and left Washington negotiating with collapsed credibility.
Force may compel temporary compliance, but sooner or later the threats and intimidation expose an underlying absence of authority. True power is soft. When coercion becomes the primary instrument, the loss of moral authority ultimately translates into a loss of power itself.
Authoritarians are, in truth, a pitiful bunch. The force with which they wrest “authority”, believing that true power is beyond them, only causes power to elude them even more. They may believe: “Since I cannot persuade you, I will force you to obey me and make the consequences of refusing unbearable.” This kind of thinking needs treatment and guidance, not the granting of power.
Bombs can destroy infrastructure; military power can eliminate people; and blockades can impose enormous suffering. But none create political legitimacy. In fact, excessive violence produces precisely the opposite effect: it transforms fear into resentment, resentment into solidarity, and solidarity into resistance.
This is particularly visible in abusive relationships. An abuser may initially believe that intimidation demonstrates strength and control. But the more force becomes necessary, the more it becomes obvious that the abuser is not getting what he wants most: voluntary loyalty, respect, trust, and affection. The victim may be threatened into silence out of fear, but while complying outwardly, she is psychologically withdrawing, secretly resisting, planning an escape, or seeking allies. The abuser therefore becomes increasingly dependent on surveillance, threats, punishment, and escalation. While commanding obedience, he is simultaneously losing power in every meaningful sense. He may go as far as to kill his victim psychologically, physically, or both, but he will never get what he yearns for: genuine authority.
The Marshall Plan was not “stupidity” but the smartest, most sensible approach one could devise, even for self-advantage. American democracy, as opposed to authoritarianism, was also a formula for prosperity, which we forgot. This forgetting has led us to greed, coercion, hoarding, collective psychosis, and now the brink of self-annihilation.
It still impresses me how, in spite of everything, foreigners admire America not for its wealth or military power, but because of the democratic ideals it once embodied. It is because, after eighty years of not only following America’s example but doing better—protecting human rights and universalizing health care—they understand where we were coming from when, as victors, “those peculiar Americans” did not simply collect spoils but shared their wealth, spreading peace and prosperity. It is because it takes true democracy to be capable of believing in democracy, and actual mental health to be capable of valuing mental health (and its expertise). They now understand what we ourselves have lost touch with and can no longer envision, let alone create.
Therefore, since those in power are derelict from their duties, it is up to the people to apply the correct psychotherapy: keep unfit individuals from leadership positions, set limits, entrain them to more realistic ways of attaining self-respect, and strengthen our own mental health, so that we are not attracted to disordered “leaders” in the first place.
Announcement:
Dr. Bandy X. Lee will hold her next “emergency psychiatric meeting”—it will continue to be an emergency as long as it is ongoing—on Monday, August 17, 2026, at 5 p.m. EDT / 2 p.m. PDT. She will hold her next planning meeting for Survival University on Thursday, August 27, 2026, at 5 p.m. EDT / 2 p.m. PDT. Paid subscribers will receive a link an hour before meeting times (apologies again for making this paid, but past hackings have made this a necessary protection).
Discussion about this post
https://bandyxlee.substack.com/p/trump-iran-and-the-need-for-collective
The US population is so fixated on all things economic that they are blind to morality and collective health and wellbeing. If we take care of these basic qualities we will be addressing true growth and health. Donald Trump never has understood the joy of collective caring,
I appreciate your demonstrating how similar abusive authority is basically the same in all parts of society. I might describe this as psycho-social fractal concept or phenomenon.
Sometimes I do think you put too much faith in our country’s founders and constitution. I see them as violent men who created a structure conducive to violence based on their own fears of the people especially people they abused and enslaved. We’re still dealing with their legacies.
Yet, I have held a belief for decades that good things including concepts don’t always come through good people. Or perhaps I don’t agree with them 100%. The ideas and ideals of democracy seemed to have often come through elitist people and governments. Perhaps democracy is the baby not to be thrown out with the bath water.