Ironically, the one promise that George Bush has made good on is to make our foreign policy more humble. We really don't have a choice about that anymore.
Rebuilding our image in the world will be a major challenge for the next President. The American brand is the conerstone of our soft power, which Joseph Nye defines as the power to get others to do what we want without coercion. Therefore, improving how the world sees us will be the best way to do more with less in our foriegn policy.
I've been living overseas for the past 12 years. I speak two foreign languages, have lived in three foreign countries and travelled to over twenty more. So I have definitely have had my share (and sometimes a fill of) foreigners opinions of us shared with me and I would like to share some of them with all of you.
Here are some issues, in no special order:
Anti-abortion/Pro-Death penalty: This is seen as nonsensical to most people abroad and, to be honest, it's a little tough to explain. I've never heard it discussed in american press, but it is discussed in other countries and they see it as a clear example of our how illogical our views can be. They find it scary that the same type of logic can be applied to our $400 billion+ military might.
We have no history: This one makes me angry, but is widely shared. Europeans especially value their own history and the wisdom they feel it has brought them. They view our lack of history as a sign of immaturity and always take care to mention it when they feel like we are acting like an overgrown child. I get into a lot of arguments about this one, which I won't go into here.
Why Germany Kant Compete: Paul Krugman wrote a great essay about the differences between Anglo-American and Continental philosphy. As usual, it is extremely insightful and well worth reading. Basically, we want to go with what works and don't spend too much time thinking about why. Europeans want to know why first and pay less attention to outcomes, unless of course we screwed something up.
We're religious funadametnasts: This is actually probably talked about less in most of the world than in the US, but it is an issue. Especially, of course, in Islamic countries.
We have a master plan and don't make mistakes: The world lives in awe of American power and can never accept that we can make a mistake. It manifests itself in many different ways, some of them can even be funny. For instance, in Russia they pretty much assume that all Americans are CIA agents (you can have fun with this one over vodka:-). In any case, it does present a problem. Every time we blunder, many people around the world see it as just one element of a vast conspiracy. This is a big reason that many people around the world think that the CIA organized 9/11 as a ploy to destroy the Islamic world.
The Washington Consensus: This was mainly an issue during the Clinton administration. We, through the IMF, imposed our economic philosphy on developing countries. They still resent it and now that we have done ourselves in, it will be a long time before we win back the world's confidence in our judgement about economic issues. Especially grating is the condescending tone of low level staffers in annual "Article 4" consultations.
We're bloodthirsty: War and torture scandals will have that effect. Our crime rate and our love of guns is also often pointed out. Sometimes Hollywood doesn't help either.
We're arrogant: Why does every american sports league have a "World Championship?"
We don't know our care to know anything about the rest of the world: Foreigners almost always point out Americans' lack of knowledge about world geography (but themselves don't know the difference between Missouri and Montana). They expect the most powerful country in the world should know more about it, and their probably right. We do need to be held, and hold ourselves, to a higher standard.
These are just some examples, there are many more (which I'm sure I'll be reminded of in the comments).
With all of that said, we also need to remember that there are a lot of positive impressions about America. We are admired for our way of life, technology, creativity and freedom. The American spririt and "can-do" attitude still inspires people around the world, even among people who don't like us very much.
I also think we need to not go overboard. The last eight years were only that - eight years. We still have a lot to be proud of and there is more than enough national shame to go around (as I sometimes have to remind my foreign friends). The damage is not irreparable.
We do need a more vigorous diplomatic effort. Programs like the Peace Corps and Muskie/FSA are amazingly cost efficient and have become underfunded under Bush (I'm pretty sure that Sakashvilli was a Muskie scholar, but could be wrong). Bush has gotten such a bad name that pretty much anybody (with the possible exception of Palin) would be seen as an automatic improvement. Most of all, there is no shortage of problems in the world that America can help solve. We can do much better and hopefully, we will.