The present confrontation between Russia and the West over Ukraine has many reasons and just as many interpreters. Yet regardless of the explanation one chooses, at the core of this crisis lies the issue of national humiliation.

Russia is determined to avenge the national humiliation the country allegedly suffered when the Soviet Union collapsed three decades ago. Its President Vladimir Putin is explicit about this objective: he aspires to a Russia that is, if not respected, at least feared, a nation that regained its place among major powers by avenging past wrongs.