Quote Originally Posted by Ken White View Post
"Almost sort of" is a good qualifier. Your post IMO is quite accurate.

In my travels here and there since 1947, it is my observation that the US has never been truly popular or well liked. There are many reasons for that but relative wealth and the unconscious and unintended flaunting of it have been a big factor. Another is that we have helped many -- and no one like to be indebted. That many Americans appear loud and brash, unsophisticated and apparently even relatively uneducated to many does not help...

We have been tolerated because most societies are polite to strangers -- and the wealth got spread.

Like all human phenomena, the liking and the respect fluctuate. The late 60, early 70s and Viet Nam were the lowest point in my estimation and we were slowly rebuilding some friendship, faith and trust from that debacle when first Reagan then G.H.W. Bush invaded other nations and our stock dipped slightly. That was followed by William Jefferson Clinton bombing or otherwise attacking four sovereign nations and the dislike and distrust soared. Then along came Jones -- er G. W. Bush -- and we went downhill again. Way down -- not to Viet Nam era levels but close. Obama intentionally started us back up (and thus his reluctance to be the one removing Qaddafi) and we'll have to wait to see how it goes.

But we're never going to be loved or deeply respected. We're too big and clumsy to do the things required to instill either emotion in most.
Time to read The Ugly American again, Ken?

Has the US Diplomatic Corps changed much since then? Not according to what Wikileaks has exposed.

You are correct when you say no one likes to be indebted. So don't rub it in, don't keep reminding people of how much they owe you. Just get in, do the business then get out. Sooner or later they will come after you with thanks and appreciation.

I mentioned in another post about whose opinion was important and someone came up with a cute number calculation.

My point is simple aim to be liked and respected by those that matter and where you can be sure of what the people are thinking. - the 26 countries who are full democracies and maybe the 53 flawed democracies.

Down in the cesspool of the hybrid and authoritarian regimes, all 88 of them let the relationship be based on fear and respect.

A few months ago there were any number of self styled pundits who would venture a guess as to what the thinking was on the "Arab Street" but none of these experts foretold what was about to happen and therefore their knowledge of what the thinking on the "Arab Street" was and is pretty suspect.

When a tin-pot despot like Gbagbo refuses to take a call from the US President it has nothing to do with any anger at Saddam or the Taliban having been seen out of power but rather through the belief that the US is increasingly impotent.

In the last 50 odd years the world has seen that the US does not have the bottle to stand up to the Soviets or the Chinese so on this basis when the US invades Panama or Grenada it is obviously seen as nothing more than a bully boy. I would have thought this would have been obvious to Americans.

What you say and what has been seen is that there is no possibility that the US will ever have a consistent foreign policy. This is the problem.

People I know and have met in my travels don't hate the US and are only to be swayed to be pro the US if only the US gave them some reason to do so.