comment: >
  
  Yea because of Republicans starting with George W Bush. He literally set us on this fucked up shit hell of a course. And instead of continuing on a positive course after Obama the Republicans shitted out Donald “the Fraud” Trump. They single handedly ruined us.
context: America elected a reality TV show host as President 
  He was openly laughed at during a UN speech 
  Ya think? >
  
  They think he was respected in other countries, despite polling of the people in those countries and his fleeing a NATO summit early because other world leaders were caught on video mocking him. >
  
  Republicans think trolling our allies, like they do the libs, is a sign of strength
  A 9year olds plan >
  
  When the polling was down globally under Trump, it was clearly because he was PUTTING AMERICA FIRST! And people of other nations didn't like that!
  But they (Trump voters) never really cared to read the question now did they... >
  
  Wasn't that the entire aim of the Trump administration's foreign policy? Disengage from international allies, cut off foreign aid, and kowtow to belligerent dictators. You know, MAGA. >
  
  MAGA, for Russians. >
  
  Like when Trump publicly took Putin's side and said he believed him over our own intelligence agencies >
  
  Or when Trump tore up the Iran Treaty? >
  
  Other nations aren't going to trust us as long as the GOP continues to have as much power as it has.
  The world can see how risky it is to depend on a country that can't seem to protect itself from power-hungry grifters and liars. >
  
  Didn't MAGA elect The Cheeto to get the U.S. out of the great globalist conspiracy? Some people are never happy. >
  
  right? >
  
  Is this a self aware moment for Republicans? Our influence started waning the moment we elected a fat orange clown bursting from the seams with lies, hatred, and stupidity.  It will take years to recover. >
  
  Our international credibility took the biggest hit when Bush led our allies into two boondoggle wars. Trump did a lot of damage but we were already in decline at that point. >
  
  America has had declining influence since the early 70s. With the quagmire of the Vietnam War and the Gas Crisis, America was shown to be vulnerable.
  The triumphs of the Space Race, being on the winning side of two world wars and Miracle on Ice are still worthy to be proud of. And to this day America dominates in sciences, economic prowess as well as cultural exports. 
  But its high water mark was in the 50s and 60s. Right when the Baby Boomers in power were in their formative years. And it's no wonder why that generation thinks it's owed everything. >
  
  The US was not the primary reason for winning either world war.
  They were the primary beneficiary though. >
  
  A ton of people think that though. "Back to back World War champs" is a meme. >
  
  A ton of people believe a lot of things, still confused as to why you'd make that point when no one brought it up in the first place in this discussion. >
  
  Russia invading Ukraine has proven the US to be invaluable and pushed many countries towards us. >
  
  I'm pretty sure that the whole plan hinged on invading during a second Trump administration. I imagine that the war would have gone significantly better for Putin, and even if not it would have been the final nail in the coffin of the US' international influence. >
  
  What does "influence" mean here? If we're talking military power, that couldn't be further from the truth, sadly. If we are talking about respect, then that was diminished by trump, as well as by our numerous foreign policy blunders. >
  
  The US has been losing soft power for decades though. >
  
  Have a wander over to the Facebook comments section for this article or our conservative cousins over on their sub and you will find out that their idea of when the rot started is significantly different to what you might expect. >
  
  What some republicans think of as influence: Belligerence, force, lack of empathy and exclusion.
  Showing anything short of those qualities makes you a weak bleeding heart leftist. They do t want to work towards a common goal that promotes the best interests for the most amount of people possible >
  
  You gotta understand the one core value that they hold above all others is hatred for what they consider weakness, because that's what they believe strength is, hatred for weakness. >
  
  Because we look like a bunch of assholes. Our political theater is worse than reality TV. Who can take us seriously with some of the people we elect? >
  
  Our national identity is "city upon a hill", but our political parties disagree on what kind of example we should be to the world.
  One party wants to try solutions to the myriad problems we face based on research and public opinion.  They may fail, but they want our government to work.
  The other party wants IRL Gilead and runs on a platform of the government cannot work.  The worse things get, the more they "win".
  Until we reinvest in infrastructure and education, our city stands upon a pile of shit. >
  
  I think this comment aims in the right direction but falls short. 
  One party sees the structure of government as intentionally gridlocked, weakening but still strong overall, if it can be kept. The other party sees every mechanism of gridlock as the end of the United States as they know it and seeks to radically and forcefully change all of society to fit their whims. 
  And of course, the description of the two parties fits in line perfectly with whatever the reader wishes to believe about their own party, while a significant number in the middle suffer from ever-increasing radicalization of the groups. People on both sides of the aisle just have fundamentally become mindblown with the actions of the opposite party. >
  
  In the last two years have been greatly healing for the US international position. Wonder why? And why R would think the opposite. >
  
  And the Republican solution for this is to elect isolationist, "America First" presidents and representatives. >
  
  Saying the GOP solution to this is whatever implies first that they see it as a problem to begin in need of a solution in the first place. They do not. At least, not all of them, and perhaps not even a majority of them.
  For at least a significant fraction of the GOP, isolationism is the goal, and so reduced influence is a means to an end. And it makes sense, from their perspective, because if you want to run a corrupt country, you need to allow other corrupt countries to flourish. The more interconnected everyone is, the more the good actors reinforce each other, to the detriment of the bad actors.
  I think this is largely why the GOP is aligned with Putin to the extent that is; because they're willing to scratch each other's backs. Putin helps them get elected, creates propaganda to help the GOP, etc, and the GOP looks the other way at Putin's corruption, allows him to run roughshod over other countries, etc. It's mutually beneficial for them both. Just like good actors mutually reinforce each other, bad actors also mutually reinforce each other as well. >
  
  "most Republicans" also completely unaware they are the cause of our global influence waning because they keep electing pirates who exist only to rob the nation blind for their own gain. >
  
  Red states influence on the world is waning. You’ve exposed yourselves. You continue to double down on ideas that don’t work socially or economically. >
  
  I mean, of course Republicans think that, we haven't invaded anyone in weeks! 
  It probably is waning but how could it not with us being such a ludicrous shit show for so long? >
  
  aren't they also the ones demanding "america first". They should be freaking happy about it, but as usual they complain. >
  
  Lack of universal healthcare alone, the fact that we allow our ruling class to waste half a trillion dollars and socially murder tens to hundreds of thousands of Americans every single year, makes the country a big joke.  
  Combined with the obscene corruption in the political system making the preferences of the average American irrelevant, and yes, the US deserves the L in terms of global influence. >
  
  That's good, if your Dad was a fat, bombastic and narcissistic drunkard running up an endless debt for his philandering and polluting the very air he breathes, I would think you'd want to get as far away from him as you could. >
  
  I’ll bet it’s just because we’re not at war in the Middle East, bc clearly you can’t influence a place with out boots on the ground >
  
  Global influence is expensive.
  Republicans did not want it (unless their sponsors need them...) >
  
  MAGoo logic.
  Spend years screaming about how badly the rest of the world sucks, then be amazed when the rest of the world turns its back on the USA. >
  
  They are the ones not paying attention to the US leadership in current world events.  They spend their day trying to find their toes and their nights trying to find their sanity....Ugh. >
  
  The GOP are just figuring this out? Wow..
  Yes, guys, we were popular and even envied after WW1 & WW2, but that was a long, long time ago. Since then, we've allowed our paranoid leadership to get us involved in so many stupid wars we look like bullies to the rest of the world. Just imagine the good we could have accomplished with the money spent on Vietnam and Iraq.. >
  
  Meanwhile the US is reasserting it’s moral authority globally on a level unseen in like 80 years. >
  
  That's what they wanted. The isolationists took over their party and got "America First" mentality for four years of Trump. What did they expect? >
  
  Because of republican’s. >
  
  Red states influence on the world is waning. You’ve exposed yourselves. You continue to double down on ideas that don’t work socially or economically. >
  
  
  most Republicans
  
  And they blame Democrats and liberals for the US losing global influence.  Theyll ignore all conservative anti-globalist (anti-marxist) rhetoric, the damage Trump did to the US in world affairs, and how American capitalists have taken advantage of worker rights around the world. >
  
  Trump turned the United States into a shithole country. >
  
  Mango Unchained heralded in a reverse MAGA.  
  Biden is fixing it. >
  
  So on one hand, they advocate for Isolationist policies and want as little interaction with the rest of the world as possible, but then whine when our "influence is waning." >
  
  Isolationist policy isn’t uniquely incompatible with global influence. Isolationist policy is generally more about not getting tangled up in foreign wars and political issues, but that can be separate from a global influence on culture and economy. 
  Right now, Republicans feel like the US is doing neither of these things: we’re tangled up in war in Ukraine, and American cultural and economic influence is arguably waning compared to China. >
  
  Talking Geopolitics with a Turkish friend years ago and they offered up the gem, "When America is 400 years old, let's talk." >
  
  Turkey is a joke >
  
  And yet it once was a far larger and more powerful nation than the USA. That was Maho's point. >
  
  As we pump the most money into Ukraine…
  These polls are like a popularity contest.
  When stuff hits the fan, they come to us. >
  
  We’ve sold it all for freedom… I mean capital >
  
  Not believing this headline.  Most republicans don't think at all. >
  
  Circle of US politics.  Something bad happens.  Politicians speak up and decry their exasperation  of the event.  More politicians speak up and decry their exasperation of the event.  How could this happen they ask.  They form a committee (well actually, the side with the most political points to gain forms a committee).  Investigations and publicity of investigations go on till we feel like we are going to throw up.  Then the investigation ends with no solutions provided and no decision reached except it was the fault of the other party.  A small period of peace occurs.  Then, something bad happens............. >
  
  Wonder if the headline is trying to surreptitiously embed in our brains that Republicans are not the majority of America?  Read that headline again.  Seems to me it has two purposes.  One evident and one very sneaky........ >
  
  It is. Republican have themselves to blame. They elected an isolationist with zero ability to think strategically on a global scale. Old school republicans put maintaining the US as the sole superpower front and center. Projecting both soft and hard power needs to come into play for whoever the next president is. Massive investment in reduction of carbon footprints as well as new military technology (bioweapons, kinetic bombardment, hypersonic missiles, AI) need to be made quickly to maintain US hegemony. >
  
  Zero ability to even comprehend the job he assumed. >
  
  Half of Americans, most Republicans are the cause of the waning influence. Would be funny if it didn't hurt the rest of us too >
  
  Bullshit, American consumerism drives the global economy. >
  
  Who's fault do you think that is? >
  
  that’s FINE. you don’t have to be the fucking classroom bully to get respect >
  
  This is pretty rich since that seems to be their goal. >
  
  Yeah, a decade+ of sitting back while highly motivated people wreck our country with zero repercussions will do that. >
  
  probably has more to do with competing hollywoods than politics. >
  
  With Trump even being elected, what else did people expect…he is as thick as mince. >
  
  Of course it is. After Trump demonstrated that the word of the US can be counted on only until the next presidential election, he threw a grenade into US global influence. If US can’t be counted on to keep any promises made, why would people be willing to enter deals with us anymore. Trump did a shit ton of damage in the 4 years he was president. Blowing up the Iran deal is high on that list >
  
  Good >
  
  Yes, President dumb dumb and Desantis and Santos and a turtle in the Senate and Jan 6th and trade sanctions based on whims, and the Gulf wars, and some truly awful films and yukky Starbucks coffee, and all those climate deniers and overweight tourists, etc etc 
  And besides most people are Asian, all mean American influence is not waning, its already waned. >
  
  As usual, Republicans are right...in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons.  They think "US influence is waning because Biden."  Reality is US influence is resurgent under Biden compared to Trump.  US influence *is* waning overall, due to a number of factors including other countries catching up economically and militarily, as well as the longstanding trend in the US away from democracy and a strong middle class toward fascism and oligarchy.