More recently, American Anglophobia has become unexpectedly visible in Hollywood. The Patriot - cast as the SS in red coats. Nor should we be reassured by the apparent Anglophilia that spawned the film Notting Hill . Nevertheless, Mr Blair should resist the temptation to cringe as he enters the Oval Office. After all, we are their political and cultural ancestor.
American hubris is understandable.
In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, they are the only superpower in town. Their economy is vast, their people the richest in all history. The crisis of confidence that afflicted the US in the 1970s is long forgotten. Above all, they seem so far ahead of the competition in the realm of military technology that they need fear no one. Yet it is instructive to compare the American position today with that enjoyed by the Victorians at the time of Lord Salisbury.