And Libya goes on...

[Ken White]

Its relatively simple Ken.

Yet, this issue is indeed somewhat so. As is the solution to the perceived problem. That, simply is to be aware of the political milieu and adapt to the apparent lengthy decision cycles and in house acrimony. I understand that is difficult for most nations -- it is strangely difficult for many Americans to accept -- but to ignore the process is to invite confusion rather than to be prepared to deal with it.

If the US cannot put a coherent foreign policy together and articulate it clearly then it must accept that it will be misunderstood/distrusted/hated by people across the world.

True. We can but only if severely provoked and will not ordinarily be bothered to do so. Yes, most of us know and accept that with only minor qualms but some Americans do rather wistfully wish to be liked or loved and would like to accommodate your observation.

I have noted with interest how shocked your average American is when he is confronted by hostility and distrust in places where they expected friendship and even a little respect and appreciation.

Those would be the 'some' above. Sad so many believe myths they construct in their minds. That, BTW, applies to other than Americans...

So Ken go ahead and flip the world and say "take us as we are or shove it" it just further reduces your circle of friends in the world.

It is not a question of flipping the world. Nor is it a question our way or the highway as the saying goes. It is a question of our unwillingness to modify a governmental process that works fairly well for most of us just to win friends and influence people. Just as most Americans dislike pandering (unless a politician does it for or to them...), the nation is incapable of bending to the will of others. As Americans tend to be more independent than most others national groups, so the nation reflects that. Rightly or wrongly, the US political class focuses intently on US domestic politics and pays little attention to the remainder of the world and that has been true through 220 years, a number of wars and many travails. It is unlikely to change barring extreme provocation. Many of us would like to see some changes to that -- we're unlikely to get any...

You should be pleased to note however that creeping socialism is changing that national characteristic of independence. Whether that results in a change to the national attitude to a more communitarian outlook remains to be seen. The current Administration is certainly doing its part to bring that about (mostly as a directly contrarian reaction to the previous Administration -- that too is a recurring feature of the US political scene which invariably exacerbates the consistency and continuity problems ).

The US has the unfortunate habit of wanting to be the bride at every wedding and the baby at every Christening but it often ends in tears when they end up as the corpse at the odd funeral.

Huh? Interesting turn of phrase. I understand the desire to be liked, an embedded feature of the twitisphere (which the US media generally represents and therefor voices the attitude of which you write). However, haven't seen all that many tears and all funerals are odd (IMO).

I think I understand the gist of that garbled syntax, though -- and there's some merit in the statement. Not totally correct but accurate enough to stand provided one realizes that those with that desire to liked are a minority in this country. IOW, I know some feel that way, however, most do not in my observation. As Canadian newspaper Columnist Christy Blatchford once wrote "Some Americans care but most don't give a rat's ass what the rest of the world thinks..." Succinct and uncouth but distressingly accurate, confirming all your prejudices.

That is unlikely to change significantly until the demise of the American republic, and event that will certainly occur, however, probably not in the lifetime of ourselves or even our grandchildren...