--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The steep decline in America's image and…" description: "\"The steep decline in America's image and standing after 9/11 is a direct reflection of global distaste for the instruments of American hard power: the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dec/shashi-tharoor-2698_abu_the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and_140323.jpg" --- # The steep decline in America's image and standing after… ![“The steep decline in America's image and standing after 9/11 is a direct reflection of global distaste for the instruments of American hard power: the Iraq invasion, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, torture, rendition, Blackwater's killings of Iraqi civilians.” quote by Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dec/shashi-tharoor-2698_abu_the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and_140323.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dec/shashi-tharoor-2698_abu_the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and_140323.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dec/shashi-tharoor-2698_abu_the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and_140323.jpg) > “The steep decline in America's image and standing after 9/11 is a direct reflection of global distaste for the instruments of American hard power: the Iraq invasion, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, torture, rendition, Blackwater's killings of Iraqi civilians.” [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. America’s post‑9/11 image decline reflects global backlash against its hard‑power tactics, especially military interventions and human rights abuses. **In simple terms:** US image suffered due to controversial actions. Key Takeaway Promote transparent, ethical foreign policy. Themes politics image humanrights Mood critical concerned Type political analytical When to use this quote - diplomacy - public relations - policy making - academic research - activism Key Concepts international law media ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can nations rebuild damaged reputations? - What role does accountability play in foreign policy? A Different Perspective Changing narratives can be slow and contested. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abu/) [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Civilians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilians/) [Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/) [Distaste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distaste/) [Guantanamo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guantanamo/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/image/) [Invasion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invasion/) [Iraq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iraq/) [Iraqi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iraqi/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Reflection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reflection/) [Torture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torture/) ## Related quotes > [Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in steep decline, unable to distinguish between what's true and what feels good,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-consulting-our-horoscopes-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [My proficiency with ballet was on a steep decline the more I skated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-virtue/my-proficiency-with-ballet-was-on-a-steep-decline-the-more-i-skated/) [Tessa Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-virtue/) > [“The frequent claims that empty churches and low levels of religious activity in Europe today reflect a steep decline in piety are wrong—it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-stark/the-frequent-claims-that-empty-churches-and-low-levels-of-religious/) [Rodney Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-stark/) > [It's just silly to look at the incredibly steep decline in the mainline and the clear institutional weakening of Catholicism in the 1960s and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/it-s-just-silly-to-look-at-the-incredibly-steep-decline-in-the/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Yes, I care, but I think that people think we're contributing to the decline of America. I see us actually helping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twiggy/yes-i-care-but-i-think-that-people-think-we-re-contributing-to-the/) [Twiggy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twiggy/) > [With the decline of America's global preeminence, weaker countries will be more susceptible to the assertive influence of major regional powers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/with-the-decline-of-america-s-global-preeminence-weaker-countries/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [America's image throughout the world is very bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/america-s-image-throughout-the-world-is-very-bad/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [America washes its dirty linen in public. When scandals such as this one hit, they do sully America's image in the world. But what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fareed-zakaria/america-washes-its-dirty-linen-in-public-when-scandals-such-as-this/) [Fareed Zakaria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fareed-zakaria/) > [Welcome to the decline of America where, in six short decades, we have gone from aspiring to judge a man by the content of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cain/welcome-to-the-decline-of-america-where-in-six-short-decades-we-have/) [Will Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cain/) > [America doesn't exist in decline! America never has existed in decline, and people do not want to be told that the country that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/america-doesn-t-exist-in-decline-america-never-has-existed-in-decline/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Today I weep for my country. No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. ... Around the globe, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-byrd/today-i-weep-for-my-country-no-more-is-the-image-of-america-one-of/) [Robert Byrd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-byrd/) > [During the Clinton administration, America's image was that of a strong, confident and kind world leader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-medavoy/during-the-clinton-administration-america-s-image-was-that-of-a/) [Mike Medavoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-medavoy/) > [The U.S. dollar is in terminal decline. America is tragically bankrupt, unable to pay its lenders without printing the dollars to do so, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/the-u-s-dollar-is-in-terminal-decline-america-is-tragically-bankrupt/) [Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/) > [We need to change America's image round the world. America has lost some lustre in terms of how folks aspire to be like us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-l-jackson/we-need-to-change-america-s-image-round-the-world-america-has-lost/) [Samuel L. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-l-jackson/) > [I was ordered not to go out to Abu Ghraib after dark early on, because Abu Ghraib was extremely dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/i-was-ordered-not-to-go-out-to-abu-ghraib-after-dark-early-on-because/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) ## More by Shashi Tharoor > [“six decades of Independence have wrought significant change, as exposure to British practices has faded and India’s natural boisterousness has reasserted itself. Some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/six-decades-of-independence-have-wrought-significant-change-as/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [“My China Diary and Walking With Lions, were memoirs of his diplomatic and political experiences. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/my-china-diary-and-walking-with-lions-were-memoirs-of-his-diplomatic/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [The U.N. guards the vital principles entrenched in its charter, notably the sovereign equality of states and the inadmissibility of interference in their internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-u-n-guards-the-vital-principles-entrenched-in-its-charter-notably/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [“control. The people’s character is deliberately debased, their mind is denationalized and perpetually kept in ignorance and fed with stories of England’s greatness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/control-the-people-s-character-is-deliberately-debased-their-mind-is/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [“The past is not necessarily a guide to the future, but it does partly help explain the present. One cannot, as I have written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-past-is-not-necessarily-a-guide-to-the-future-but-it-does-partly/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [“On election days, the burdens of poverty and corruption and of a creaky economic system are put aside, and India celebrates. Many voters dress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/on-election-days-the-burdens-of-poverty-and-corruption-and-of-a/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [“History, in any case, cannot be reduced to some sort of game of comparing misdeeds in different eras; each period must be judged in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/history-in-any-case-cannot-be-reduced-to-some-sort-of-game-of/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [“India is my country, and in that sense my outrage is personal. But I seek nothing from history—only an account of itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/india-is-my-country-and-in-that-sense-my-outrage-is-personal-but-i/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [I make no bones about the fact that India matters to me, and I would like to matter to India.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/i-make-no-bones-about-the-fact-that-india-matters-to-me-and-i-would/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [“In debate he thought high and aimed low.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/in-debate-he-thought-high-and-aimed-low/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [“Jawaharlal Nehru, who wrote in a 1936 letter to an Englishman, Lord Lothian, that British rule is ‘based on an extreme form of widespread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/jawaharlal-nehru-who-wrote-in-a-1936-letter-to-an-englishman-lord/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [Much of the conventional analysis of India's stature in the world relies on the all-too-familiar economic assumptions. But we are famously a land of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/much-of-the-conventional-analysis-of-india-s-stature-in-the-world/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [Universality of the UN is a worthwhile thing in its own self because it means that every country belongs, feels it has a stake,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/universality-of-the-un-is-a-worthwhile-thing-in-its-own-self-because/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [The Chinese, as befits a Communist autocracy, approached the task of dominating the Olympics with top-down military discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-chinese-as-befits-a-communist-autocracy-approached-the-task-of/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [“The Mahatma’s singular insight was that self-government would never be achieved by the resolutions passed by a self-regarding and unelected elite pursuing the politics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-mahatma-s-singular-insight-was-that-self-government-would-never/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) [Explore all 153 Shashi Tharoor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) ## More Abu quotes > [Kuwait City is not gorgeous, actually, but it's got a kind of Epcot Center thing going for it. 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He was accused of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-engel/in-october-2008-american-commandos-launched-a-cross-border-raid-into/) [Richard Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-engel/) > [We are ready to train new Iraqi forces outside Iraq. We did it in Abu Dhabi.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joschka-fischer/we-are-ready-to-train-new-iraqi-forces-outside-iraq-we-did-it-in-abu/) [Joschka Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joschka-fischer/) > [The actions we took in the aftermath of 9/11 were harsh but necessary and effective. These steps were fully sanctioned and carefully followed. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-a-rodriguez-jr/the-actions-we-took-in-the-aftermath-of-9-11-were-harsh-but-necessary/) [Jose A. Rodriguez, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-a-rodriguez-jr/) > [4Shbab has been dubbed Islamic MTV. 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Bush, they could not avoid learning about Abu Ghraib.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-mackinnon/whether-or-not-americans-supported-george-w-bush-they-could-not-avoid/) [Rebecca MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-mackinnon/) [Browse all 16 Abu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abu/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The steep decline in America's image and standing after 9/11 is a direct reflection of global distaste for the instruments of American hard power: the Iraq invasion, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, torture, rendition, Blackwater's killings of Iraqi civilians.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shashi Tharoor" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and-standing-after-9-11-is-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abu" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and-standing-after-9-11-is-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dec/shashi-tharoor-2698_abu_the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and_140323.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dec/shashi-tharoor-2698_abu_the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and_140323.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dec/shashi-tharoor-2698_abu_the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and_140323.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The steep decline in America's image and standing after 9/11 is a direct reflection of global distaste for…” — Shashi Tharoor", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Shashi Tharoor", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The steep decline in America's image...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and-standing-after-9-11-is-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and-standing-after-9-11-is-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```