Bush steps out of world picture in which U.S. is no longer the star

Decline in U.S. influence partly a result of aversion to his policies

By Paul Richter
Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON — As President George W. Bush's term comes to a close, the United States has the world's dominant economy and its most powerful military. Yet its global influence is in decline.

The United States emerged from the Cold War a solitary superpower whose political and economic leverage often enabled it to impose its will on other nations. Now America usually needs to build coalitions of nations to get its way—and often finds other world powers aren't willing to go along.

In the 1990s, America exerted leadership in all the remote corners of the globe, from the southern cone of South America to Central Asia. Now the United States has largely left the field in many regions, leaving others to show the way.

Bush has been widely blamed for the erosion of American prestige. And the decline in U.S. influence is partly the result of the reaction to his invasion of Iraq, his campaign against Islamic militants and his early disdain for treaties and international bodies.

(More here.)