Amid the global outrage over events in Washington on Jan. 6, it is important to understand that there was a growing malaise at the heart of many Western democracies long before an angry mob stormed the US Capitol building, and that their discontent has deep roots.

Most British people would like to see their country as Cool Britannia, as it was portrayed in the late 1990s, or the “land of hope and glory,” Arthur Benson’s patriotic ode set to the rousing music of Edward Elgar. Currently it is neither.

The coronavirus has the US, Latin America, India and Europe firmly in its grip. The number of cases in the US has surpassed 9 million, and over 235,000 people have died.