Will Americans ever feel the pain — of other nations? We Americans tend to see ourselves as above such sentimentality. Yet, perhaps we might make an exception for Russia. To see why, let us reflect on our responsibility for its desert wandering since 1991.
History shows how banishing a celebrated power to the wilderness can be like stripping people of their identity. Russians do not wish to return there. We Americans should not wish Russians to see us as the main agent of their exile.
National identity does not exist in isolation. Identity is all about belonging. And a nation's standing within the larger community of nations is what belonging is all about.