That was probably rhetorical, but too interesting to pass on. I think they generally view their behavior as a necessary compromise to either transcend or counter ours. They probably vacillate between the two.
They likely view our unilateral use of force as shortsighted relative to their vision of some kind of collective world legal system. They may recognize that we could quickly eliminate the “axis of evil”, but in their minds that would be a long term set back to a real “war on terrorism”. I think they believe the latter’s only winnable through their vision of collective world governance. I suspect that at times, they simply dismiss us as naïve and treat us as the biggest child in the playpen that needs to be managed with the others. (Transcending our behavior).
Other times, I think they see our willingness to dismiss them as the threat to them that we are, and they act to undermine our authority and power. But in their mind, they’re acting for the greater good.