Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz could have been talking about 2022 Russia when he made this point in 1923 about a rising Japan.
“Policy, to be effective, must be founded on right and justice and must be backed by public opinion, particularly in a democratic country like the United States. In a highly centralized, militaristic government like Japan the public opinion of the masses is relatively unimportant as the government, through its control of the press, can readily mould public opinion.”