Herbert London defined "pre-emptive declinism" as a postmodern belief "that the United States is not an exceptional nation and is not entitled by virtue of history to play a role on the world stage different from other nations". London ascribed that view to Paul Krugman and others. Krugman had written in "The New York Times", "We have always known that America's reign as the world's greatest nation would eventually end. However, most of us imagined that our downfall, when it came, would be something grand and tragic."