Repressive, dictatorial regimes are inherently schizophrenic. Officially, through demonstrations and propaganda, the ruling elite coerces their suffering subjects (not citizens) to believe that an foreign influence or outside force is trying to undermine their safety and destroy them. Dictators whip up enough support for themselves by conning their people into abject fear. In reality, of course, the real danger to the people within is the leadership within, the very people who are supposed to be protecting them. Mental illness, like schizophrenia, compromises the patient in a similar fashion.
Zionist and Human Rights Activist Natan Sharansky alludes to George Orwell's masterpiece 1984 when he describes the burden of victims living with totalitarian regimes. The citizens of totalitarian regimes engage in "Doublethink" all the time. On the outside and in public, subjects praise of their beloved leaders. In secret, beleaguered people throughout the nation rejoice at the downfall of their overlords.
Like Natan Sharansky's father, parents tell their children the truth about their oppressive leaders, telling them to celebrate but at the same time to hide their relief and to bide their time until greater opportunities for freedom arrive. Let's apply this clinical observation to the situation in Syria.
Future entries on political schizophrenia will compare the clinical symptoms of the illness with President Obama's erring foreign policy.