In Nagaland, one increasingly hears a familiar refrain: ”Nagaland is a failed State.” Discrediting begins when temporary failures become permanent identity—when ”This institution has failed” , this policy has failed, this project is a disaster, becomes ”Nagaland has failed.” Once ”Nagaland is a failed State” becomes the dominant narrative, every setback is absorbed as further proof that the narrative is correct. For the battlefield is in the imagination first. If Nagaland allows pessimism to become its identity, it will surrender long before it is ever defeated.