Great powers in decline are often more dangerous than rising powers. The leaders of such countries (today's United States?) may be tempted to take drastic action in an attempt to stem perceived decline and restore the status quo ante or simply to distract from domestic problems. Mark English argues that, though changes in the geopolitical landscape make the relatively clear ideological dichotomies of the Cold War era impossible to maintain, new and dangerous forms of neoconservatism – founded on the myth of American exceptionalism – continue to influence foreign policy and media reporting.