"Opinion polls in a dozen European Union countries are similar and unambiguous: from the English to the Greeks, if Europeans voted, Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States."

THAT is the salient factoid in this whole discussion. The universal disgust, not only foreign, but domestic as well, about our current administration and political philosophy can no longer be dismissed as propaganda or greed or shortsightedness, or just reflexive anti-Americanism, especially since there is now no international Communist conspiracy to finance and coordinate it.

Real or illusory, the collapse of American prestige in the last 7 years must be recognized and addressed, not just summarily brushed aside as
a conspiracy of our enemies. It has spread to our friends and a substantial portion of our own people as well. It is not due to a single unpopular incident or policy or act, it is a cumulative effect which distinguishes itself by its ubiquity.

And if we insist the reason for it is that the whole world is wrong and evil and we are not, then can you blame them for feeling that way?