And to comfortourselves that we were doing the right thing, we have increasingly placed our trust in international institutions to safeguard our future.
Party chairman Francis Maude said the conference had been "brilliant" and that Conservatives must "not slip back into a cosy comfort zone where we congratulate ourselves in ever smaller rooms about the excellence of our policies while too many modern Britons blithely ignore us".
How can we develop that adaptability, and foster that comfort with uncertainty within our organizations and within ourselves, so that we can have the best shot at success when it really matters?