Being nice gets you nowhere. Being sneaky makes everyone distrust you. The heads of the country know what they want, but they deny it to seem altruistic, and try to accomplish it in a secretive manner instead. At this point, it seems like survival of the fittest is coming into play. I think the US should outwardly and openly express that we want the entire world to be like us -- as part of us, that we are strong, and that we are going to make it happen. Everyone always tries to make friends with the strongest kid on the block if they feel they can't beat him. Simply being honest could make us some enemies as well, but we may as well own up to our agenda. The world pretty much knows what's going on, anyways, right? I would prefer if this discussion wasn't necessary at all, but if I had to choose between "us" and "them", I'd choose us in a heartbeat.
