Why do we have so many enemies when we are such a great country? I think it is due to an imperial policy.
Oderint dum metuant
Who is buried in Grant's tomb?
You need to bone up on world history since the end of WWII and connect the dots. Each step along the way has led us to our present predicament. The charge of "imperialism" indicates both a misunderstanding of the term and a misunderstanding of history.
On balance, since the world leadership role had to fall to some nation, it is extremely fortunate for the six billion people on this planet that it fell to us. That doesn't mean, however, that we have any interest in searching out enemies and picking fights.
The present belligerencies have been ripening for roughly 25 years, or since Sadat shook Begin's hand in Jimmy Carter's Rose Garden. On 911, the damn burst and we have now been forced to settle accounts once and for all in the Arab world. If we do a half-assed job, we'll pay for it later. It's time to force a paradigm shift in that part of the world, or else watch a nuclear cloud rise over an American city five or ten years down the road.
"It takes but one to make a war, not two, and those who do not have swords may still die upon them." -- Eowyn, Lord of the Rings
War was made upon us. We did not seek it. Fortunately for us, we have the biggest swords on the planet. Now is the time to use them.
We have a right to be imperialistic (assuming we truly are). Our way works; "theirs" doesn't.