Here’s an interesting piece in the International Herald Tribune about the “fast-fading luster of the American story” — that is, the weakening power of American ideals and culture abroad thanks to globalization and the recent, divisive projection of American military power overseas.

I think the idea that Hollywood is losing sway over audiences abroad is somewhat overstated. This recent article in The Washington Post, for instance, suggests that the popularity of American movies is growing overseas, along with so-called “local product,” or domestically produced films. (Pop culture remains one of America’s top exports.) Even in France, a country with a storied history of filmmaking as well as state protection of its film industry, the American media juggernaut is all but unstoppable at the box office.

That said, America’s image abroad has clearly deteriorated in many countries in the past six years, as this recent Pew Research Center report makes obvious. This distaste for American foreign policy appears to live comfortably alongside a fascination with American pop culture.

A less parochial and more culturally sensitive Hollywood can play a role in improving America’s relations with the rest of the world, as the IHT op-ed points out. But what is more important is the actual policy of the U.S. government. “To recapture its winning story in this new global politics of culture, to recover its waning soft power,” the op-ed’s authors argue, “America has to once again close the gap between its ideals and their practical realization at home and abroad, starting with changing our policies and getting out of Iraq.”

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen