Disagree, sorry. I don't know anyone who is made colorless and cultureless (except perhaps by age and poverty). I think everyone sees themselves as the "neutral, colorless center of the world". They may be jealous of their neighbour's money, but if we could speak their language, live with them every day we'd realise that the checks and balances within their outlook is identical. Every country I go to thinks of itself as a) respectful of tradition but embracing the new b) famous for its warm welcome c) and eccentric sense of humour d) famous for enjoying a drink. Etc.

Well, I think we're talking a lot about expectations here, not necessarily hard reality. Obviously not everybody in, say, America, walks around trying to be "neutral" and "colorless" all day long.

But among a certain segment of society, there is this expectation that, if we "indulge" our own cultural expression, then we're being "insular." But at the same time, when looking at the cultural output of other countries, these people value the very "insularity" (i.e. cultural "authenticity") that they would see repressed back home. So we foster, and to a certain extent enforce, cosmopolitanism in our own culture, and meanwhile we expect people in all of our client states around the world to remain purely, authentically themselves.

Again, I think much of this is about expectations than hard reality. There's no question, for example, that Japan, in reality, is far more "cosmopolitan" in the present moment than it ever has been before, even though it is not often portrayed that way. But at the same time, there are many people in the West who'd place a high value on traveling to Japan and experiencing it as the pure, authentic idea they have in their heads, all the while denying that they, themselves, have anything like a similar kind of authenticity.