She has deliberately perpetrated the image of the frontierswoman at a time when it is bound to be most appealing to members of a country that feels itself to be fighting against all the odds and that is anxious not only about losing ground (and face) but about what might be coming over the next hill.

The frontier spirit is just what is needed. The American Indians have been replaced by the Iraqis, ecological concerns have been wiped off the slate altogether under the 'hand of God' approach, while the collapse of the financial markets can be understood as a temporary blip that simply needs tweaking to ensure continuing belief in a free market economy.

Behind her policies, there is an assumption, as in the days of the American frontier, that there are endless possibilities for conquest, a wilderness with a surfeit of wildlife in no need of protection, and endless national resources to be tapped so that Americans can continue to drive huge cars on endless motorways, use air conditioning in the summer and winter, and get fat on a limitless

supply of hamburgers and fake foods.

This belief in the bounty of the US is reassuring to say the least. When bounty fails and it is attributed to fate, this is also reassuring. The narcissist does not need to question his or her own role in destructiveness or as the cause of any problems; he can confer these neatly on to others or other reasons that do not incur his responsibility.

Most important, the narcissist does not need to accept limitations; he can remain omnipotent and maintain the illusion that he is at the centre of the world. This is very reassuring when things aren't going so well, but it also has the unfortunate side effect of fostering paranoia.

Freud first came up with the idea of the "narcissism of minor differences" in 1918 when he was writing about sexual difference and extended this idea to encompass the paranoia and hatred that can emerge most fiercely among neighbours in times of crisis.

Freud makes the link between narcissism and intolerance explicit in his