Does America's popularity abroad really matter?

In "Lonely at the Top," Joseph S. Nye, Jr. discusses the importance of soft power -- the ability of a nation to influence potential allies through attraction rather than coercion. Has declining global public opinion of the United States underminded our foreign policy effectiveness? Or is the Bush administration right to emphasize military strength and other forms of "hard power" in pursuit of its goals, whatever the rest of the world thinks?
Read the story: Lonely at the top
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Our image does matter! The US has a negative image even in our ally countries like GB and Spain. Even the olympics portray the USA us "we are totally great." Our dream basketball team for example showed how self-centered we have become. I will never travel to another country and wear clothing that ID's me as an American as that has become dangerous.

jonny kaneb, chelsea

To Brian of Melrose: Very well said. To Anna of Boston: The Bush Administration said exactly what the previous administration had said, so who lied? To Gaia of The Earth: Since you hate the US so much, I sure hope you live in Canada. To Julia of The Fenway: The Arab Muslims who committed carnage on 9/11 "forcefully and violently" imposed THEIR values on us and you have The Nerve to say "now the entire world of Islam hates us"??? Girl, what planet are you on? And finally, to all you folks who keep insisting that The Rest of The World hates us: I am forced to question your intellectual honesty. If they hate us so much why are they risking their lives to come here in droves? Why do we have such a big illegal immigration problem? I was in Nigeria and Ghana last year and met absolutely no anti-American sentiment. Those folks LOVE the USA. They would all give anything to be able to come here.

Sonja, Hyde Park

I think it is common sense that we concern ourselves with the opinions of other nations. Disregard for the opinions of others may be a good strategy for akward teenagers entering puberty, but it makes for lousy foreign policy. The cooperation of foreign nations is critical in achieving our current political goals, including our current war on terrorism. The more we distances ourselves from other world powers, the more we fuel an already widespread belief that the United States is an international "bully." Populist hatred across globe doesn't win wars, it starts them. Cultural animosity towards the United States doesn't fight terrorism, it breeds it. If our stated goal in foreign policy is to ensure a safer world for our citizenry at home and abroad, then giving the proverbial "middle finger" to credible and stable nations is a terrible way to do that. Ignoring the will of the world with waving flags and proclaimations of greatness is not democracy, its facism.

Mike, Wallingford, CT

Absolutely not! I can't stand people that say we need to make sure that people like us so we can't go out and defend ourselves. Most Muslims hate Americans no matter what we do or don't do. The heck with it. Who cares if they like us or not. We should pull an Eisenhower on the next country we suspect is harboring terrorists. I'll tell you, we won't see any more terrorism, that's for sure. The terrorists will know we mean business.

Kevin, Lowell

The current foreign policy is what the United States needs today. A foreign country will only want to be counted as an “ally” when their political agenda coincides with ours. How quickly the European countries have forgotten the lives and dollars we have shed and spent on their behalf. If they have no respect for us by now, they never will. The past few years have shown how ineffective the United Nations has become, it is no longer the unselfish forum for doing what is best for the global community as a whole, but merely decrees idle threats. To that end I believe this country needs to have a strong military and the guts to follow through and use this strength to defend itself.

Christine, Lakeville

Why does it matter what any other country in the world thinks? We don't need to ask France, Germany or the U.N. for permission to protect American lives and defend our homeland from attacks.

Jim, Norton, MA

Opinions on this topic will probably vary depending on the political climate at the time the question is raised. Besides, who is to say that the US is really "at the top?" "Soft Power" is definitely important, however National Security is far more crutial to our economy at this point in time. Due to the recent actions of Al-Queda and other terrorist organizations, Bush has no choice but to emphasize military strength and other forms of "hard power." We should be hunting down Al-Queda regardless of what the rest of the world thinks. Let the other countries say and believe what they want about the US, but come time for most of those countries to sell some of their exports, guess who they are going to look to first! Maybe we should close the door to some of these countries who do not support our actions, like France, and see how quickly they change their tune. Somehow everyone in this country has fallen into this idea that we have to be nice to everyone and sensitive to their needs...now we are so socially constipated that we can not get anything done...its sickening!

John , Fitchburg

I'm not saying I love the Iraq war, or GWB for that matter, but come one people. Think about what you're saying. Mary from Hopkinton, when were the Russians our allies? I assume you're talking about the ten years after the cold war, when they were bankrupt and accepting millions in aid from us to help them recover from the 40 years they spent trying to kill us? Ann from Boston, you're using the soldier who refused to go back to Iraq and who claimed it was a war for oil as evidence the war was wrong? Did it occur to you that maybe he's a reservist who had counted on one weekend a month, and two weeks per year (like the ads said) and that now he's pissed that he actually had to do something in return for the money the gov't was paying him to to a reservist? I assume if we let him out as a conciencious objector that he'll volunteer to repay all the money he's been paid as a reservist? After all, he didn't hold up his end of the bargain. If he wants out of the war on moral grounds, can we assume he'll do what's morally right and return the money we paid him? Doubtful. And Gaia from "The Earth," you're my favorite. Those who were there have always been that we needed to bomb Japan to end the war. The "revision" came in when academics, most of whom were born long after the war, decided that we could have won without it. Dropping the bomb may not have been the neighborly, pc, or environmentally concious thing to do, but do some reading. The Axis powers didn't exactly tip-tow through Europe and the Pacific. Take a look at who started it. We didn't go to them, they came to us. Funny, looks a lot like today's situation in the Middle East.

Kevin, Danvers

I have mentioned various times, that the US should take care of it's own first...we should have the "awesome health ins. that Canadians have"..If we are such a great powerhouse, why do we have homeless, jobless people, why are our own children starving for food and going to bed on a empty stomach. It isn't correct that Dictators try to rule the world, like Napolian, Hitler, Saddam Husein...but, who was there all the time , the USA...We allow polititions in office, and Presidents...."The People"...

Nancy, Fall River, MA

Of course we should care what others think. Why in the world wwould we as a people want to belive in ourselves? we should blindly listen to nations who cave in the first time someone pulls a a trigger, like spain did, the terrosts attack and you kick out the president and bow down to the terrorists and say how bad the U.S. is. We must acquiesce to every demand made of us no matter how unreasonable. We must not become welathy or live well!. People in other countries are fond of saying how the U.S. consumes 2/3 of the worlds resources. of course they dont say that we also supply more than 2/3 of the worlds resources. Everyone wants the U.S. to be weak until they need help then whos the first country the scream to for help? You ever seen a country run to say greece for help with insurgents or rebels etc.? Even the U>N> which has blasted the U.S. every turn it can, just asked whom to step i and stop the violence in Haiti? Yep the Unite States. Oh and does anyone really think that if we found a nuke in iraq that the world would shower us with praise? i remember people on this very board saying how it didnt matter what was found because they belived bush's cronies wouldve planted it. So let me finish with this, what was the worlds opinion of spain prior to the train bombing? i never heard any big spain hating going on. bu you know what they say... its better to look good than to feel good, heck id rewrite it to say..Its better to be good than to look good.

steveh, weymouth