Resentment is one of the most powerful human motivators.. If you have ever been humiliated, it is possible that you will bear this resentment forever.. It can affect how you interact with others in your daily life, as well as your politics and outlook on the world.. During the Russian war against Ukraine, this could explain a lot about the behavior of Russians and even President Vladimir Putin himself..

Journalist Andreas Kluth writes about this in an article for Bloomberg, adding that this is at least the opinion of Russian sociologist Grigory Yudin, who was one of the few who predicted Putin's unprovoked attack against Ukraine in February 2022.. Yudin is convinced that many Russians are connected to their leader on a psychological level, because they are equally “drowned in resentment, terrible, endless resentment”.

Such a psychological universe of bitterness and discontent causes Putin and his Russian fans to show no interest in productive and positive relations with other countries.. Yudin explains that in this, Putin and the Russians can be like “a child so deeply offended that he harms everyone around him”.

“The harm is getting bigger and at a certain point it starts to destroy the lives of others and its own,” explains the Russian sociologist.

Where did this resentment come from Kluth writes that much has already been said about the fall of the USSR, which many Russians perceived as a humiliation.. Putin called this event " Literally in one day, the supergerzhava in which the Russians lived became hardly a developing country. Yudin emphasizes that the worst thing was that the US and Europe or the West began to make efforts to include Russia in international institutions and help it achieve prosperity.. But the Russians, including Putin, took it as if they were being " Nobody likes being lectured, especially if you consider yourself a great state. The result is more humiliation.

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This humiliation was allowed to fester and intensified as Russia failed to achieve economic prosperity.. And the countries that were once in the orbit of Moscow began to join NATO and the EU, moving closer to the West. In Putin's mind, if Ukraine had gone that far as well, the shame for Russia would have been unbearable.. Therefore, like a child from Yudin's analogy, he began to destroy.

If resentment towards the West, and especially the US, is the force that motivates Putin, then many things that seem illogical may make some sense.. For example, the vague and sometimes frankly insane goals of the Russian war. Putin claimed that he approved the invasion because supposedly ethnic Russians were under threat in Ukraine (they are not), because Ukrainians are supposedly Nazis and Satanists, and puppets of the real enemy in Washington. The shared resentment of the leader and his subjects may also explain why so many Russians still support Putin despite the disasters he has caused.. Qualitative polling is impossible in dictatorships. But Juris Van Bladel, a researcher at the Belgian think tank Egmont, delved into the numbers and came to three conclusions..

First, the invasion of Ukraine appears to have boosted Putin's popularity at home.. Three out of every four Russians approve of his leadership. Second, war helps Putin, not harms him.. It is beneficial to the survival of his regime.. And thirdly, the largest group of Russians are those who do not support, but do not oppose the war either.. In Russia, there are 35-40% of “opportunists” who will put up with any Putin’s statement, the main among which is that the war against Ukraine is part of an apocalyptic struggle with the West.

Yudin is not the first thinker to identify resentment as an influential force in history. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche also believed. He believed that " Nietzsche argued that in morally pure cultures such as ancient Rome, people called " “Bad” (though not yet “evil”) they considered everything weak, sick, ordinary or ugly. The masses who fit this description felt humiliated. Therefore, they have the same terrible and endless resentment that Yudin speaks of..

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At the heart of this feeling is a thirst for revenge and at the same time disappointment in it.. The answer may be a maneuver that Nietzsche called " Finding strength in numbers, the offended simply turn reality upside down.. Everything that was strong or noble is recognized as sinful. What was weak becomes virtuous. Also, a new concept appears - evil, they say, " Bloomberg columnist notes that Nietzsche and Yudin use the term " But at the same time, their definitions are remarkably similar.. Putin and his propaganda machine are also going out of their way to “re-evaluate values,” turning reality on its head.. Ukrainian heroes defending their country they call " Russian unprovoked and genocidal aggression has become an apocalyptic self-defense against the enemy West. Offenders become victims and vice versa.

Kluth admits that resentment as a motive is a human phenomenon, not a purely Russian one..

In the US, Germany, Brazil, Israel, or any other country, you can take a little closer look at local populists, whether they're right or left..

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In fact, populism is a political style that appeals not to hopes and ideals, but to grievances, trying to mobilize crowds in pursuit of personal power..

“The truth is that resentment is one of the most powerful emotions. And she often triumphs over hopes and ideals. The consequences are terrible. One of them is that the Russian war against Ukraine and the West will not end while Putin is in power..