In a speech at the Institute of Art and Ideas, Singaporean scholar Kishore Mahbubani pointed out that a major strategic mistake made by the West stemmed from its arrogant mindset of being "No. 1 in the world," leading it to believe that it could rule the world and do as it pleased. He emphasized that despite the West's self-proclaimed identity as the most peaceful and law-abiding civilization in the world, data revealed the West had grown increasingly trigger-happy. He also noted that the West regarded bombing cities as the best way to spread democracy and liberalism, and that this approach of exporting values through force had been noticed by the rest of the world.