US In The World | International Cooperation | Why What the World Thinks of Us Matters

Messaging Recommendations, Helpful Arguments & Facts

Common Critiques & Effective Responses

America must not compromise its sovereignty/flexibility.

We can't entrust decisions about U.S. security to others.

We're not opposed to all treaties ... just the bad ones.

International organizations/bureaucracies are inefficient.

Being resented for being No. 1 goes with the territory.

Leadership is not a popularity contest.

Representative Quotes

Interconnected

In an interdependent world, we need the respect and support of others to safeguard our security, to work together on common challenges, and to show that our values and priorities have merit.

When that mutual respect is lacking, the quality and dependability of our partnerships are harmed.

Shared understandings matter: To prosecute terrorists successfully in other nations, we must find common standards, even where our law enforcement procedures are different.
Shared goals matter: To share the burden of peacekeeping in countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Haiti, and Iraq, we must have international partners that agree with our actions, and international institutions must have the capacity to get the job done.
Respect matters:To have partners on these or any issues, we need a foundation of trust and respect in what we choose to do, and how we choose to do it.
Reciprocity matters: If other countries are going to take risks on our highest-priority issues, they expect us to help them face their highest concerns.

American Way

It's the American way to be respected and admired, not feared, for our strength.

Since 1945, the U.S. has been a dominant force in world affairs. We have enjoyed an astonishing degree of acceptance and even support worldwide -- because we were seen as using our power, though not perfectly, to promote broader shared interests in justice and liberty. From that perception, as well as from our strong military and vibrant economy, flows our power in this new century.

How strong was American prestige at its height? During the 1963 Cuban missile crisis, a senior American diplomat was sent to France to explain the U.S. position to French president Charles de Gaulle. After the diplomat made his case, he prepared to show satellite photos that would offer proof. De Gaulle stopped him, saying "I do not wish to see the photographs. The word of the president of the United States is good enough for me. Please tell him that France stands with America."
Half a million foreign students study in the U.S. each year -- their experiences, and the people they meet, are one of the world's most important windows into what America is like. In the past, many world leaders spent time here, and that shaped their perceptions and actions of us positively. That may be changing. Recently, a senior Polish official was asked why his government had supported the U.S. in Iraq. He answered: "I look around the Polish cabinet and see that almost every single person spent a year or more studying or teaching in the United States. I look at the next generations of Polish leaders and see that almost none of them have the same experience. They would not make the same decision."

Common Sense

When people around the world fear the effect we have on their lives, that matters.

In surveys, people all over the world express support for the basic values -- rule by the people, economic freedom -- that we share. Yes, there are some people out there who do hate us and want to do us harm, but most people are just concerned, resentful, or afraid that the U.S. wields its power in ways that don't reflect real concern for the effects our decisions have on others.

A 2002 survey of 38,000 people in 44 countries found that overwhelming majorities admire the U.S. for its technological achievements and enjoy U.S. cultural exports.
Yet the same survey found that majorities in most of the 44 countries believed that
--The U.S. does not take the interests of their countries into account when making decisions that affect them
--The U.S. does not do enough to solve global problems
--U.S. policies contribute to the growing gap between rich and poor nations
--Their traditional way of life is being lost, and they disliked the spread of U.S. ideas and customs.

Practice What We Preach

Regard for the U.S. fluctuates over time. We often forget that the rest of the world is an interested audience for everything we do. Their regard turns to distrust and dislike when we don't practice what we preach, fail to show respect for others, fail to do our share, and seem to be crowding out other cultures with our own.

For example, when we press other countries to give up nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons but then talk ourselves about our plans to develop and test new types of these weapons, those countries ask why they, which are so much weaker, shouldn't have new weapons as well.
We see ourselves as generous donors, both as individuals and as a society; but others see that we don't pay our share of UN dues, and that what our government invests in fighting poverty worldwide amounts to just 9 cents per American per day. Both sides are true; both have an effect.
Citizens of other countries know that we aren't perfect at home; they wonder how we have the right to criticize their governments when we too sometimes encounter official corruption, wrongful convictions, or mistreatment of minority groups. We know we're not perfect -- but we often don't come across that way to outsiders.
What should we do? Acknowledge our mistakes when we make them. Do more to seek out the opinions of others, and help protect the values and concerns of others, by doing our fair share to end wars and fight poverty and disease. Try to be the kind of people in the world that we try to be at home.