ABSTRACT
This chapter explores only a few aspects of large-group identity, namely the role of massive traumas at the hand of the "other" in threatening and modifying it, and political and destructive consequences of threats against the shared sense of belonging to one large group. It describes shared psychological responses to massive traumas in the name of identity, transgenerational transmissions of trauma, establishment of "chosen traumas", evolution of entitlement ideologies and their manipulations, and "time collapse", which create obstacles to peaceful co-existence among former enemies. The chapter suggests that a need to include insights from psychoanalytically informed large-group psychology as the people explore new strategies for peaceful solutions of certain, especially chronic, international conflicts. The participants from the opposing large groups become spokespersons for their ethnic or national groups, and the facilitating team seeks to spread the insights gained to the broader population through concrete programmes that promote peaceful strategies and co-existence.
