Look at all the big ideas that failed during the past thousand years. The Western church saw its political influence diminish during the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment. Kings lost their heads, and monarchy was reduced to a symbol. Fascism was defeated. Socialism is largely discredited as an economic philosophy.
Communism is in terminal decline.
Nationalism, at least in its unhealthier forms, is in disrepute. But democracy and free enterprise have stood the test of time. They are in the ascendancy across the world as the second millennium ends. And both ideas were nurtured in Britain-by great philosophers such as John Locke and Adam Smith, and by great reform movements to extend the franchise, abolish slavery, promote free trade, and establish a social safety net. The British didn't just nurture their ideas.