Know Thyself, Russia

Peace, partnership, and cooperation are imaginable only among people and nations who know who they are. If I do not know who I am, who I want to be, what I want to achieve, where I begin and where I end, my relations with those around me, and with the rest of the world, will inevitably be tense, full of suspicion and burdened by an inferiority complex that may be hidden behind pompous bravado. Distrust of oneself and uncertainty about one's own identity necessarily generate a distrust of others, imputation of evil intentions to the rest of the world and, eventually, an aggressiveness that may result in forcing one's domination upon those who do not desire it.