America, the Lone Superpower

Though liberals might beg to differ, most of the world still looks to America as its ideal. According to Robert Kagan, the invasion of Iraq doesn't seem to have hurt our status in the world that much:

...the current trend is toward closer cooperation. Germany's new government, while still dissenting from U.S. policy in Iraq, is working hard and ostentatiously to improve relations. It is bending over backward to show support for the mission in Afghanistan, most notably by continuing to supply a small but, in German terms, meaningful number of troops. It even trumpets its willingness to train Iraqi soldiers. Chancellor Angela Merkel promises to work closely with Washington on the question of the China arms embargo, indicating agreement with the American view that China is a potential strategic concern. For Eastern and Central Europe, the growing threat is Russia, not America, and the big question remains what it was in the 1990s: Who will be invited to join NATO?

...It remains the case, too, that in many crises and potential crises around the world, local actors and traditional allies still look primarily
to Washington for solutions, not to Beijing, Moscow or even Brussels. The United States is the key player in the Taiwan Strait.