[Clyde] Prestowitz, a former Reagan administration trade official, is a sharp critic of this attitude. One of his books about the U.S., provocatively titled Rogue Nation, is a thorough examination of how America lives by the doctrine of what is called exceptionalism, often to the dismay of its allies.
[...]
But, he cautions, the "really dangerous part" of this belief is "that the rest of the world recognizes and understands the special virtue of America and therefore will welcome it."

And that is clearly not the case. Take Taiwan, for example.

The general view here is that Taiwan, as a fellow democracy, deserves American protection from the Communist behemoth on the mainland. Few Americans give it much thought when U.S. warships steam into the Taiwan Strait in a show of force.

Completely ignored is the perspective of most Chinese that Taiwan is a breakaway province, whose status represents a fundamental matter of sovereignty.

In his book, Prestowitz offers an analogy. There are Hawaiian nationalists, he says, who would dearly like to occupy the uninhabited island of Kahoolawe and declare an independent monarchy. Suppose they did that, and imagine Washington's reaction.

"Now suppose the Chinese were to dispatch their navy to patrol the Maui channel in order to protect the new Hawaiian state from harm."

The fact is, the U.S. is the wealthiest and most powerful society in human history. It is a special place. An exceptional place. Or at least one with an exceptional attitude.