The answer is simple: Major world powers attract envy and resentment. Nations, like individuals, would much prefer to be seen as the generous benefactor rather than the dependent beneficiary — especially of a nation that was once far less powerful.

Perhaps demonstrating this point, a curious change occurred in the late 1920s and ’30s. As the United States retreated to a more isolationist stance, Western European public opinion seemed to change for the better. Gallup surveys in 1939 showed that, even as Americans tried to stay aloof from the war in Europe, the French and British public, both by a sizable margin, regarded the United States as their favorite foreign nation.

After we joined Britain and liberated France, public opinion toward the United States swung again. A Gallup survey in 1945 showed a dip in feelings toward America after liberation, with 54 percent of the French expressing disappointment with America. As for Britain, in wartime essays at the end of 1943, George Orwell wrestled with the fact that while British officials were careful to offer nothing but praise for the United States, the British public had developed a very low opinion of the Yanks.