An imperial mood combines greed, smugness, and a sense of mission

Evidence

Russia, because of its vast numbers, extent and resources, will probably be back, and may again develop that characteristic combination of greed, smugness and sense of mission that constitutes the imperial mood. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1707

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lewis offers a compact working definition of the imperial disposition — useful shorthand for characterizing any great power’s posture toward the region.
• XREF: This psychological triad could qualify Said’s account — Lewis locates empire in a subjective ‘mood’ rather than material structures, an interesting fault line in the Orientalism debates.