The rest of the world perceives America quite accurately.
You make excellent points, Expat, but I don't totally agree with this quote. Imo, it tells only half of the story.
Obviously, America serves to protect the ideal of individual freedom -- not just for its own citizens but for people living everywhere. It has even used its superior military power for actual good. For freedom-loving people--even those outside of American soil--this has been a good thing.
As it is with a literal sword, though, that military power and commercial might has been shown to have a double edge, and it's that second edge--the one that shows America's backing of its friends (like Israel)--that troubles many of those who live under the rule of the "despots" you mention.
It's these people, the individuals and families that have long lived under the thumb of Western-backed despots of their own (like Israel), that have grown far past 'weary' of waiting for help from American political leaders to come to their aid. Palestinians have lived under stark poverty and oppression for more than fifty years, with little end in sight. U.S. aid has made possible much (if not ALL) of this oppression by sending upwards of $5 billion in aid to Israel each year. Israel has in turn used these funds to build a military arsenal rivaling, in quality, that of even the U.S. Israel has taken full advantage of its superior military and economic position by acting in ways that have been as every bit as evil and barbaric as those of "despots."
It's a very complicated mess... is what it is, but I fully believe that to solve it American leaders are going to have to take a serious look in the mirror. They will have to humbly see, not only what their supposed GOALS are but how they have gone (and continue to go) about reaching those goals, to the detriment of an entire culture that seems to have reached its limit.
America is not without fault.