I think it's pretty much the nature of empires. When you're on top you're conscious that everyone wants to knock you down.

It conditions how we think. I remember, years ago, reading about some European academics wishing for the end of the American empire and feeling disturbed until I realized I was using the wrong analogy. They were thinking of some process analogous to the old European colonial empires giving up their possessions, and discovering a new way to live within their borders. I was thinking of Visigoths sacking Rome.