Again I'm not trying to say one is better or worse, or that they are the same. But America is no moral good guy vs. anywhere else. Yes what China is doing to the Uighurs is despicable. However our prison population reaally doesn't allow us to point out how other countries oppress minorities with a straight face, not to mention our treatment of asylum seekers and caging kids and pretty much giving them up to sex abusers and child traffickers. So we're not China or Saudi Arabia, yes that is a good thing, but let's not pretend we are that much better than them either. Again when you say our ideals, what ideals really set us that much apart? Women's rights pale in comparison to many places, our healthcare is a joke when the rest of the rich world isn't bankrupting people who need medical help, and our government clearly infringes on our privacy right up there at similar levels as our favorite boogeyman. Sure we don't censor sites on the internet and arrest journalists, or kill them like the Saudis, but we allow corporations to buy politicians and influence the media. We are not the leader of the free world by some moral authority, just might. We are Rome. There is no 'ideal' chosen country/people we should look to follow as the just and 'best' hegemon, we just care about our own interests same as any would. We've done good, bad, same as the rest. But the world has every right to laugh at our gaffes and frown at our big stick wagging and, like you said, destabilizing places to the benefit of our corporations.
Also there are a lot of crap governments out there, lets not conflate them with the 'ideals' of the people they rule over.
