I enjoyed your post, Jazz, nice to hear from the other side. If I may make so bold, what sometimes perturbs non-US citzens, is the degree to which well-educated, intelligent, and politicaly active Americans can be very insular in their outlook. Like it or not, the US pretty much calls the shots on the world stage, which means that the rest of the world tends to hope that the most visible face of US foreign policy will have some awareness that there is a world outside North America, however irrelevant that fact seems to most US citizens most of the time. I agree that having a skilled team of advisors will no doubt help, but it is the perception, not so much of ignorance, as of indifference ("I don't know, but so what?") that seems to cause most concern among many outside the US. To give an amusing example: When GW's Dad was CinC, he visited Australia during a time of tension between those two countries over trade in beef. As his motorcade sped through Sydney streets, past crowds of protesters, Mr Bush gave what he thought was the "V for Victory" or "Peace" gesture. Unfortunately, none of his advisors had told him that he was "giving them the fingers" in Australian usage. It was an amusing illustration of how cultural misconceptions can exacerbate difficult situations, and insularity does not help lessen the likelihood of such incidents.