"They hate us because, as a nation, we’re acting like assholes." And countries who elected Conservative governments joined the ranks of assholes! So I would add these asshole countries (ring-wing boobs for leaders and the sheep that follow them...every cotton pick'n one of them):

UK,
Australia,
Canada,
France,
Germany,
Mexico

Allies understand that much of what this administration has done is not looked upon favorably by a vast majority of Americans. That said, the George Bush of the 70 percent approval rating going into Iraq is not profoundly different from the George Bush of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Rendition, Libby Pardon, Signing Statements, and Politicization of Justice and so on. In some sense, we :"got what we asked for; good and hard." (Menken)

We (my family) went to Northern Europe approx 18 years ago. We went to the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and my home of birth, Denmark.
We were always treated indifferently by everyone because we talked English. Until we told them we were Canadian. Then we were treated like visiting, long lost friends.
The dislike of the US has been going on for years.
It all stems from their arrogance and their throwing around of money.
Money does not flow as freely in Europe. Taxes are high, but social services are great.
The Europeans only see the upperclass American citizens visiting with their noses high up in the air throwing their dollars around.
We decided to go to the smaller places in Europe and avoid the tourist traps.
We engaged the people first by telling them we were Canadian. They were visibly relieved. Many commented about US arrogance.
I think that the hatred of the US has been building up for many years.
Bush just made it a popular sport.

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}

Jim Abrams for the AP

WASHINGTON - The United States has lost billions of dollars and an immeasurable amount of good will since Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks nearly six years ago because of a decline in foreign tourists. Several senators are now trying to get the government involved in bringing those visitors back.

SNIP

Visits to the United States from countries outside of Canada and Mexico totaled 21.7 million in 2006, down 17 percent from a peak of 26 million in 2000, according to Commerce Department figures. In the same period, cross-border travel around the world was up 20 percent.

"The global pie of international travel is steadily increasing, while the U.S. share has been slowly decreasing," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association.

Visits from the six countries that provide the most tourists — Britain, Japan, Germany, France, South Korea and Australia — have dropped 15 percent since 2000 while travel from those six to other countries was up a robust 39 percent. There were 4.2 million arrivals from Britain, last year, down 11 percent from 2000, and 3.7 million visits from Japan, down 27 percent.

"It's a situation that really is disastrous when you take into account the overall global trends in international travel, and the fact that the U.S. currency makes travel to the country so attractive," said Adam Sacks, managing director for tourism economics at Oxford Economics."

"Entry problems are hardly confined to tourists. Investors from countries such as Brazil or India, where it can take months to get a visa, may take their business elsewhere. People willing to pay considerable amounts to study in the United States or receive medical treatment here may consider other options."

"Oxford Economics, In a recent analysis of travel policies written with former Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge, said the 17 percent drop in visits since 2000 has cost the United States $100 billion in lost visitor spending, almost 200,000 jobs and $16 billion in lost tax receipts.

SNIP

The Oxford study recommended that the United States expand the visa waiver program and apply the proposed $10 visa waiver fee to both promotion and entry security improvements including hiring more border and customs officers.

[Note: That's 10 bucks per head that the tourists themselves will pay. Now is the new 10 finger print program planned to come out of the same 10 smackers, or will that be an additional fee. With a little more effort along these lines, the US should easily achieve a 100 percent tourist and foreign investment free zone.)

Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, and Bruce Stokes, international economics columnist for National Journal and consultant to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, have written a book entitld, America Against the World: How We Are Different and Why We Are Disliked.

The Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs has an excellent podcast of the pair discussing their findings. You can listen via the web here. The easiest way to get the podcast is to subscribe at the site and then peruse what's available. I recommend it. JPD hipped me to Carnegie Council podcasts (thx!), and I found several that were very interesting, including this one.

"As matters stand now, a private who loses a rifle suffers far greater consequences than a general who loses a war."
--Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling, United States Army

more studies to find out why Americans are hated.
That is another problem.
You do studies about everything using monies that could have helped everyone else.
You do not look at the actual problem.

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}