John Robb cites research by Peter Schwartz' GBN:

The overwhelming message was the antipathy non-Americans now feel towards the US. And Americans just weren't seeing that at all. There was no war on terrorism anywhere outside the US. In fact, there was a clear perception that the US was the problem. The scenario that everyone else was talking about was how could you constrain the US, not how could you defeat terrorism. So there are completely different perceptions of the world.

This is like a cigarette company relying today on the brand it established two generations ago.The world changed, people have new information, and they are more skeptical of spin.  

It is not enough to be America. We need to engage all our external stakeholders. Cluefully. Even gonzonomically.

Time to renew voice of america. Fund libraries. Sponsor student exchange programs. Give blogs to the starving people of a dark continent. Send Rageboy to any of the evil empires. Build hospitals. Send drugs.

Listen.