Show me one great nation in the history of the world that has apologized to the world for it's actions? Show me a nation that humbled itself (of its own accord) before the world? Obama's actions are unprecedented in history and not in the best interest of the country.
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You realize that most great nations of history have nearly always collapsed, right? Egypt - collapsed. Rome - collapsed. Greece - collapsed. The list goes on and on. Anyways, I digress; the reasons for their collapse are complex and something I won't go into right now.
How are they not? You seem to think that he is trying to make us bend over and take it up the rear. I see nothing wrong with saying, "Hey, listen...I know what the previous administration did, and that it ticked you off. However, we're not going to do things that same way. We're going to listen and work with everyone. We're still going to pursue our interests, but we're going to take everyone - every nation - into account."
It's like a football team...everyone is going for the same thing, but there is no one person working toward that goal.
AJ I wouldn't dream of accusing you of being anti-American, I don't think that is the case at all. But I would say you're being a little naive about world perception. Remember arrogance can also be believing the world is laughing with you and not at you. Worry less about how people perceive us and worry more about how we perceive us. The answers are here, not outside as nobody besides other Americans has our best interest at heart. I'd give the same advice to the rest of the world.
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Unfortunately, it has been a common thing (in general) among some people here, so I figured I would be proactive and (hopefully) stop it before it started.
On the contrary, I have no misunderstanding that some people just do not like us; I realize some people hate our guts. My point still stands though - why give them more to prove their anti-US rhetoric? Yes, we do a lot of good out there, but we also, sometimes, act like a child. We do shit over and over again that ticks even the friendlier countries. Why give them the ammo to fight their anti-us war?
Prudence goes a long way; speak softly and work with the natioins, but yes - carry that big stick. There are times when -- not violence or aggression per se -- but when justice is needed to be carried out. I would hope that in that case, we would wish to do it as a group of nations, and not think we have some duty to do it ourselves. Such thinking can also serve a practical means in that other countries would contribute to the costs of certain...expeditions.
People will think what they want to think. As long as the US is strong somebody will resent that, no matter what we do. So why get your panties in a twist worrying about it? I don't care (althought I find it interesting) what anyone outside the US thinks about us, that's fine if they like us or don't. The US's generosity did not decrease during the Bush years, it increased, yet many of those with their hand out will still spit in your face, that's the way it is. Be humble all you want, but do it in private, because nobody respects a weakling. We are seeing that now.
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My belief comes from the concept: Speak softly and carry a big stick. I don't have any issue with justified use of force (in defense), but I do have issues with our government seeming to think we can stick our nose into whatever we want. If we want to get shit done, then we need to stop pissing people off as much as we can. You don't beat/tease the dogs and then jump into the middle of the dog pound. Shit like us meddling with other people's problems, when we have no right to...it's just stupid. It serves no good use.
Being humble does not mean you are weak; in fact, showing some humility every now and then is a great thing. It shows you're not an arrogant jack ass, know-it-all, aggressive shit starter, etc. (Usually, not always though)
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Canada isn't relevant geopolitically-wise. We are simply too integrated into the defence structure of the U.S., and too economically dependant on you to steer away from whatever the U.S. might want. To be honest, I'd think Canada should join the U.S. as several new states, to ease the economical transfer, increase your oil reserve, integrate naval defense (air defense is already integrated), and specially, give you origignal U.S. American the demographic weight you will badly need when (I doubt it's gonna be "if") the mexican immigrants will flood on your side of the border to get jobs in the U.S. during the coming labor shortage.