Compassion for the United States has faded since Sept. 11.(Chicago Tribune)

CHICAGO _ On the morning after Sept. 11, the United States took comfort in the world's compassion and sympathy. One year later, the warmth has faded.

Fear and loathing of America has re-emerged across much of the world. Oddly enough, the hostility seems deepest among America's closest allies, like the West Europeans, and its closest neighbors, like the Mexicans. It flourishes even in places where governmental relations are better than ever, such as Russia.

Many Arabs and other Muslims, like Third World residents of Latin America and Africa, honor the American victims of terror but insist that the Sept. 11 attacks were payback for the damage that U.S. government policies have done to their countries.

"The real U.S. is more ordinary, more normal and more sensible _ and getting more so every day," said a commentary in South Africa's Mail and Guardian newspaper. "The problem with the U.S. is its government. What they, and we, need is regime change."

Anti-Americanism is far from universal. The United States remains wildly popular in Afghanistan, where it ousted the hated Taliban, …