Are you arguing with Kevin Rudd's speech or my embrace of his and Howard's "greatest force in the world for good"?
I have a bit of respect for the Christian idea that humanity is fundamentally flawed; all of us, you and me and Howard and Bush and even Rudd. Thus with such building blocks I don't expect to find a perfect society, any time, any where.
However given that qualification some nations (societies of people) are by any objective measurement better than others at helping to establish a better world for all of us. (There are no doubt some great boutique nations but they are not influential world powers).
Here are four measures that I think gives the US a flying start.
1. The implementation of the Marshal Plan in Europe after WW2.
2. The economic rebuilding of Japan after its defeat by the allied forces.
3. The establishment of the UN. (which was primarily an American initiative).
4. The expressions of gratitude to America from former Soviet republics and satellites for its role in freeing them from Russia's domination. Some of this was expressed by them sending troops to Iraq.
Perhaps I have an Anglo-American perspective but it seems to me that the US took on the role that once belonged to GB until post WW1. The world's greatest democracy ,numerically, is India and one can only speculate how much it owes to the tutelage of the "mother of all parliaments" for its stable and democratic government. Perhaps it one day will assume the role the US is now playing.
As you say kingdoms rise and fall, that is true but the US at this stage doesn't seem to have any rivals on the world stage. I think I read somewhere it has military bases in over 100 countries. That its hegemonic stance in world affairs is generally accepted as good or at least useful is indicated by the reality that all the major Arab countries are tied to it in reciprocal ways and even those involved in the Israel/Palestine conflict on both sides want the US as an umpire. Why not the EU for example?
It seems that apart from "hating" America the same people trust her when it most counts.
