When British politicians talk of greatness, by contrast, it feels more like one of those embarrassing family rituals – Dad dressing up as Father Christmas. Everyone cringes but the grown-ups (in this case politicians) think that the children (in this case the electorate) will get upset if we admit to the reality.
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Any US presidential candidate who dared suggest that the real challenge for their country involved the intelligent management of relative decline – and surely two such intelligent men as Mitt Romney and Barack Obama must know this in their own minds – would be sure of defeat.
Things are different in Britain. The country has never gone in for institutionalised patriotism.
