No, it was fate that chose us to civilize the world. And we have.

Indeed, for years the very goal of indigenous education in many countries was to civilize indigenous children by teaching them the language, culture and knowledge of the dominant group, which after the colonial era was that of the hegemonic nationality.

As Putin declared last year, the Soviet Union s collapse dealt a devastating blow to Russia s cultural and spiritual codes, and subsequent attempts to civilize Russia from abroad amounted to primitive borrowing. Instead of expecting a new national ideology to emerge on its own, Russia must pursue and develop its unique identity with Putin leading the way.

To explain this difference in perspective, perhaps one should venture further into the past than the Iraq War and consider the divergence that already existed traditionally between the United Kingdom s pragmatic approach to its imperial role and the French Empire s missionary zeal. A duty to accumulate wealth catalyzed the former a duty to civilize inspired the latter.