APA Citation
Colgan, J., & Keohane, R. (2017). The Liberal Order Is Rigged: Fix It Now or Watch It Wither. *Foreign Affairs*, 96(3), 36-44.
Summary
Colgan and Keohane analyze how global power structures become skewed to benefit elites while marginalizing others. Their examination of institutional manipulation, gaslighting of legitimate grievances, and systematic exploitation of power imbalances provides crucial insights into how narcissistic dynamics operate at macro levels. The authors document how those in power maintain control through manipulation, denial of others' experiences, and creation of systems that serve their interests while appearing legitimate.
Why This Matters for Survivors
This research validates what survivors know intimately - that power structures can be deliberately rigged to benefit abusers while silencing victims. Understanding these macro-level dynamics helps survivors recognize that gaslighting, manipulation, and systemic invalidation aren't personal failings but documented patterns of how narcissistic systems operate across all levels of human organization.
What This Research Establishes
Power structures can be deliberately manipulated to serve elite interests while appearing legitimate and fair to outside observers. Colgan and Keohane document how institutional rules are crafted and maintained to benefit those in control while systematically disadvantaging others.
Gaslighting operates at institutional levels, with systems denying the validity of legitimate grievances and casting blame on victims rather than addressing systemic problems. The research shows how macro-level gaslighting mirrors individual narcissistic abuse tactics.
Those who benefit from rigged systems actively resist change and will use manipulation, denial, and punishment to maintain their advantages. The authors demonstrate how narcissistic dynamics of control and exploitation scale up to institutional levels.
Victims of rigged systems often internalize blame and question their own perceptions rather than recognizing the systematic nature of their mistreatment. This parallels how individual survivors of narcissistic abuse doubt their own experiences when faced with consistent gaslighting.
Why This Matters for Survivors
This research provides crucial validation that the manipulation and gaslighting you experienced in personal relationships reflects broader patterns of how narcissistic systems operate. When you felt like the rules were constantly changing to benefit your abuser while leaving you confused and blamed, you were experiencing the same dynamics that Colgan and Keohane document at institutional levels.
Understanding that these patterns exist across all levels of human organization helps counter the isolation and self-doubt that narcissistic abuse creates. Your experiences of being gaslit, having your legitimate concerns dismissed, and being blamed for problems you didn’t create are not unique personal failings but documented patterns of how narcissistic systems maintain control.
The research validates your perception that certain environments and relationships can be fundamentally rigged against your wellbeing. This isn’t paranoia or oversensitivity - it’s an accurate recognition of how power can be systematically abused to serve some while exploiting others.
Most importantly, this work shows that change is possible when people collectively recognize manipulation and refuse to accept gaslighting as normal. Your healing journey contributes to broader awareness that can help transform narcissistic systems at every level.
Clinical Implications
Therapists working with survivors need to understand that individual trauma often occurs within broader contexts of systemic manipulation and institutional gaslighting. Clients’ reports of “rigged” family systems, workplaces, or social environments should be taken seriously rather than pathologized as paranoid thinking.
This research supports validating clients’ perceptions of unfair treatment and helping them recognize that their hypervigilance around power dynamics may be an adaptive response to genuinely manipulative environments. Understanding macro-level narcissistic patterns can help clinicians avoid inadvertently gaslighting clients who describe systemic abuse.
Treatment approaches should incorporate awareness of how institutional narcissism can retraumatize survivors and interfere with recovery. Helping clients develop skills to recognize and navigate rigged systems becomes part of building resilience and preventing revictimization.
The research also highlights the importance of collective healing and social justice work as components of individual recovery. Survivors often benefit from understanding their personal experiences within broader contexts of systemic change and collective empowerment.
How This Research Is Used in the Book
Colgan and Keohane’s analysis of institutional manipulation provides essential framework for understanding how narcissistic dynamics operate beyond individual relationships. Their documentation of systematic gaslighting and power abuse validates survivors’ experiences while illuminating paths toward collective healing:
“The patterns we see in global institutions - the manipulation of rules to benefit elites, the gaslighting of legitimate grievances, the systematic exploitation disguised as natural order - these same dynamics operate in families, workplaces, and communities touched by narcissistic abuse. Understanding these macro-level patterns helps survivors recognize that their experiences of manipulation and gaslighting reflect broader systems of power and control, not personal inadequacies or failures of perception.”
Historical Context
This work emerged during a period of growing global awareness of institutional manipulation and elite exploitation, coinciding with movements like #MeToo that gave voice to previously silenced experiences of systematic abuse. The research provided academic validation for what grassroots movements were documenting about how power structures operate to silence and exploit victims while protecting perpetrators.
Further Reading
• Herman, J. L. (1992). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror - connects individual and collective trauma patterns • Freyd, J. J. (1996). Betrayal Trauma: The Logic of Forgetting Childhood Abuse - examines how institutional betrayal compounds individual trauma • Walker, L. E. (1979). The Battered Woman - documents how power and control dynamics operate in abusive relationships
About the Author
Jeff D. Colgan is Professor of Political Science at Brown University and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab. His research focuses on power dynamics, institutional manipulation, and how leadership structures can become corrupted to serve narcissistic interests rather than collective good.
Robert O. Keohane is Professor Emeritus of International Affairs at Princeton University and a pioneering scholar of institutional power dynamics. His decades of research have documented how seemingly legitimate systems can be manipulated to serve the interests of those in power while marginalizing others' needs and voices.
Historical Context
Published during rising global awareness of institutional manipulation and elite exploitation, this work emerged as societies began questioning long-accepted power structures and recognizing patterns of systemic gaslighting and manipulation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Through manipulation of institutional rules, gaslighting legitimate grievances, and creating systems that appear fair while actually serving the interests of those in power.
Because narcissistic systems are designed to make manipulation appear normal and to gaslight victims into believing their suffering is their own fault rather than the result of systemic abuse.
Rules that consistently benefit those in power, dismissal of legitimate grievances, gaslighting of victims' experiences, and punishment of those who speak out about unfairness.
By denying victims' experiences, claiming problems don't exist, attributing systemic issues to individual failings, and maintaining that current arrangements are fair and necessary.
Yes, but it requires collective recognition of the manipulation, validation of victims' experiences, and systematic restructuring to prioritize fairness over elite interests.
They can retraumatize survivors by replicating abusive dynamics, but understanding these patterns helps survivors recognize that the problem lies with the system, not with them.
Collective action is crucial because narcissistic systems rely on isolating victims; when people come together to name the abuse, the system's power to gaslight and manipulate is diminished.
By trusting their perceptions, seeking validation from others with similar experiences, building support networks, and working toward systemic change while maintaining personal boundaries.