The Age of Grievance: How to Play Resentment Politics
Like his counterparts in the Middle East and South Asia, Putin’s narrative of humiliation finds receptive ears because of the stagnation and infirmities of the system he heads. Grievance narratives have the strongest hold over societies that have been unable to keep up with the demands of globalization. .. In a 2012 poll, 73 percent of Russians said that their country deserved to be more respected, and 72 percent had a favorable impression of Putin, the figure fighting to win Russia that respect.
.. The typical narrative has a few central themes. It views history as a contest between forces of good and evil. It contends that a true people, some honored nation or group, was once great and has been brought low by conspiracies of evildoers, usually immigrant outsiders. It warns that cosmopolitan influences are undermining the values of said true people, and it usually promises that a charismatic leader will guide those people out of the despoiled present to reclaim an idealized past.
.. Many of these factors have become evident in China, whose leaders have internalized a narrative of humiliation at the hands of the West and see a need to vigorously, even violently, recapture the Middle Kingdom’s lost glory.
.. Such a strategy will be hard for Washington to swallow. Americans prefer direct action. They remain hostage to the doctrine of credibility. A national security strategy for the age of grievance, however, is all about balancing various dilemmas.