But that has since evaporated, just as it did in Denmark three years ago, and now the no camp seems to be in the ascendant.

ECONOMIST: Relations with the EU are warming a little

Unfortunately, the evidence that libertarian impulses were ascendant at CPAC was not only to be found in the straw poll victory of their exemplar, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

With "smart" technology in the ascendant, it will be hard to resist the allure of a frictionless, problem-free future.

WSJ: Are Smart Gadgets Making Us Dumb?

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood seems to be ascendant in Egypt.

FORBES: Don't Fear Morocco's Islamists

Ironically, at the time corporate raiders burst on the scene, the U.S. economy seemed to be stuck in a rut while Japan was ascendant.

FORBES: Dan Loeb Shakes Up Japan And Sony

It seems that Christians are also widely considered to be at fault for having churches, Bibles and religious practices that offend the ascendant Islamists in Egypt, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The Struggle for Civil Rights, 2012