I would say that the US is seen with highly suspicious eyes. A country that politically claims to have the moral high ground in the world and abuse it, will of course lose trust. I am a swede, and it is hard to overrate the relief here when Obama was elected.
Intelligent people realize that americans is not the same as the politics of the US. I – and most people I know – don’t expect much of the US, but have high hopes. The US is full of people with compassion and hopes and dreams, more or less the same as everyone on the planet.
American culture is loved all over the world. Some people spit and curse it, while sipping their coke in their jeans, the background radio playing Bruce Springsteen or watching the latest episode of Battlestar Galactica. But whatever you do it is disliked by someone. In the US it seems like it’s an insult to call someone or something to be french, even if it’s a fantastic culture with great people, and a great place to be.