I think the more informed folk from outside the US fully realize that it's not all the American people as such that are the root cause of the problems faced by the US, but the Republican "neocons". Although the ultra-conservatives are in the minority they have managed to subvert much of what makes America great.
A hawkish, military approach to economic issues such as the need for oil, lopsided foreign trade agreements and an approach to foreign policy where installing "puppet" regimes with zero credibility and violent human rights abuses has become the norm (Colombia, Pakistan, Kenya to name but a few), has hurt the image of the US.
