Americans normally shrug off newspaper headlines overseas, unconcerned by what the rest of the world thinks of us. But the events of recent months have turned a not-so-flattering mirror back upon the US, forcing us to think seriously about what it is the rest of the world is seeing.

The hurricanes that struck America’s Gulf coast this autumn were just the beginning of a series of storms – both physical and political – that have done significant damage to the already fragile US image overseas. Seen through the eyes of an international audience, the images of destitute African Americans left to fend for themselves in a wasted New Orleans, of Tom DeLay, Speaker of the House, indicted and of a White House struggling to salvage a Supreme Court nominee and belatedly waking up to the dangers of bird flu, combined to create a powerful impression of insensitivity and ineptitude. Coming on the heels of a war that cast grave doubt on US leadership, these storms and our response threaten America’s stature in the world.