They would be alerted on immediately.

not get the full picture of what is going on relative to how we are really viewed by the rest of the world. Most Americans get a sanitized view of world affairs, and frankly little mass consumption reporting in the US truly covers the worldview. We, get a slanted view and are always trumped as the good guys no matter what it is, generally. Hence, many wander in the US woefully uninformed ... and then wonder WTF, how come all the world doesn't love us.

to be an advantage for the rulers, a disadvantage for the nation.

they have their own demons to grapple with (dictatorships, factions of Islam, wealth disparity, etc). The west makes things worse by coming in as some kind of white knight...

to reverse the defeat of anti-Assad forces with an Egyptian intervention.

Talk about throwing gasoline on a fire....

but the Royal families in Arabia that hold power are throwing their weight ($$$) around to change the landscape as they see fit but there probably is infighting between the royal families as well.

same as it ever was.

and it will come back to bite the royal families in the arabian peninsula as they are playing both sides of the fence in a schism taking place all over the region.

We would save a lot of money and a hell of a lot of grief if we stayed out of it. Let them fight it out and then deal with whoever is left standing when the smoke clears. But there are some very rich and powerful people who stand a lot to gain by keeping us involved in every conflict around the world. Unfortunately, they are the people who really guide our foreign policy.

the anti-muslim side most definitely

Or do you support antidisestablishmentarianism?

Something about our unquestioning unilateral support of Israel *could* have something to do with it; if I may hazard a guess...

During the first Arab Spring revolution. US journalists were seen as vehicles to get the truth out. Now, both sides see them as propaganda agents.

The Arab Spring had a much sharper line defining "us-them/good-bad", and unconscionable violence committed against (mostly) peaceful protestors makes for good news footage...The people WANTED the world to see the atrocities committed against them...

But now the line is much, much murkier and neither side has much moral high ground to stand on...There's no way for either side to make it look good in front of the foreign press when both sides have shed so much blood...

Or am I missing something?

pax Romana.

the nations occupied by Roman troops didn't see it as a wonderful peace.

It's only by contrast AFTER they left....

I'm sure that when pax Romana was in its prime....

the slaves captured by Roman troops didn't see it as a wonderful time.

The way you rule determines the kind of world you leave behind.

And the rapid unwinding of the peace now is no doubt a "feature" of the US and Britain opposing independent democracies over the years.

But when a massive Imperial power is in its prime, secondary wanta bes are kept in control. Now they're emerging.

I was never a fan of "Empire on the Cheap" Pax Americana. But there will be even darker days ahead as it declines.

Think of it like when an extremely powerful Mafia Don dies.