> I would wager that a majority of Americans (and a majority of citizens of democratic countries across the world) hold the belief expressed in the previous statement.

wow. words fail me. I used to see the US as the "big partner overseas". That was 20 years ago. Maybe I'm projecting my own views and development here, but IMHO the picture the US as friendly or even just benign faded over a decade or so, then got utterly destroyed by whatever the heck US politics is today.