Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall fell. But the optimism and triumphalism within the United States after the collapse of Communism, the end of the Cold war, and the establishment of the 'New World Order' are now in scarce supply.
Ten years after the start of the War of Terror, Francis Fukuyama has been forced to revise his proclamation of the "End of History". Whilst George W Bush's "Mission Accomplished" and "Iraq is Free" look, in hindsight, so premature that the obstetric term 'miscarriage' would be more appropriate.
"Brand America", in a political sense, has become toxic all over the World. Once upon a time, people in the Muslim world looked at America and Western Europe as their role models. They aspired for their own countries to be Muslim Capitalist democracies, with varying degrees of Islam thrown in to satisfy the religiosity of the masses.
But a combination of long standing support for Israel, Desert Storm/Iraq '91, and the 10 year-long War of Terror – Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan – has diminished the standing of the United States and its allies across the whole world.
This is particularly true in the Middle East, where recent polling showing that across six Arab countries, an average of only 15% of the people gave America a favorable rating. The fact that the lowest ratings were in Egypt (5%), and the highest in Saudi Arabia (30%), should be a further cause for reflection. About 12% considered that America contributed to peace in the Middle East, and only 8% agreed with the policies pursued by Obama—tiny minorities amongst the overwhelmingly negative perceptions, which also extended to views regarding both the American conduct in the killing of the alleged sponsor of 9/11, Osama Bin Laden.