Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent and much talked about New York Times op-ed contained a closing critique of American Exceptionalism:
And I would rather disagree with a case [Obama] made on American Exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.
Putin contends that encouraging a nationalistic sense of superiority is harmful to the rest of the world. No one nation is exceptional; we're all born equal.
And then there's this — a quote from Putin at a rally in Moscow in February, first unearthed today by Dan Amira with New York Magazine:
“We will never allow anyone to interfere in our internal affairs. We will not allow someone to impose their will on us, because we have our own will! It has helped us to conquer! We are a victorious people! It is in our genes, in our genetic code!"
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