Much of foreign policy centers on perception.  Fox News asked a few questions of Americans about that perception.  On the question

Compared to five years ago, do you think the United States is more respected around the world today, less respected today, or about the same?

The More Respected/Less/About the Same numbers are 14%/48%/36%.  This is down sharply from just a year ago (which asked the question compared to four years prior to that, so the two questions used the same baseline year of 2008); those numbers were 29%/37%/32%.

The perception of loss of respect runs across party lines.  Democrats view us as less respected today by 25%/27%/46%.  Independents’ numbers are 9%/51%/39%.

Consistent with this, Americans’ approve/disapprove numbers concerning Obama’s performance on foreign policy are 39%/54%, down from 49%/44% a year ago.

It’d be interesting to see the results of a Fox News (or Rasmussen, or other reputable polling outfit) poll asking similar questions of the citizens of other nations.