It's been my opinion for some time that many on the Right-wing in the USA are motivated in their beliefs by the fear that they have of human nature. It's been my feeling (and there have been a few books written on the subject) that "conservatives" are fearful of the nature of man, so they cling to ideas that will protect them from that "bad" nature (a strong sense of "law & order", gun ownership, militarism, greed, ant-immigration, etc.). Surely not every one of these positions is unique to the Right-wing, but fear is a main driver in "conservative" politics for sure.

There is certainly a feeling on the part of many Americans that we have the "best interests" of the world at heart, but this mainly, IMHO, comes from an ignorance of history on the part of our public. For instance, when Americans cower in fear against a potential nuclear attack (especially by some country that doesn't even have nuclear weapons), they fail to understand the world view that the USA is the ONLY nation to ever use nuclear weapons on another country (rightly or wrongly).

"Americans are fearful that the US is losing its hegemonic grip on the world,"

Is 100% true. We like our standard of living.

"while at the same time asserting that US hegemony is in the best interest of all the people in the world,"

Is partially true. I don't think Americans are arrogant about this. I think they're trying to convince the rest of the world not to upset the current system because of the first statement. They are fearful.

Under the current economic system, the US buys whatever the world has to offer and the other countries support our debt. A different system may be where multiple countries buy the world's crap and the other countries support their debt.

A situation that leaves the current economic system in place is where you just substitute another country in place of the US. But which country is capable of buying the world's crap? And do we even want to continue with the current setup of one country buying up the world's crap?

The transition from one system to another (or substituting the US) is possible but must be done carefully so as to avoid turmoil. Americans realize this and they rather stick with what they know. They've learned how to make a living under the current system and don't want to learn how to make a living under a new system. The same goes for the rest of the world. So Americans use this "turmoil" excuse to try to convince the rest of the world to maintain the status quo.

But the world is not so willing to continue with the current economic system due to the current economic crisis. The US and the world have linked their economies so if one suffers, the other one suffers (and vice versa). The world is not happy with the current economic mess but it is not prepared to transition the US role to another country nor is the world prepared to replace the current system with something else at this time. Such a transition at this time will result in turmoil. So the world puts up with this stimulus crap while at the same time thinking about how to make some form of a transition with as little turmoil as possible.

"and any country who defies the best interest will be brought into subjection by their military."

Is also true. Violence is an expression of fear.

Iraq threatened to upset the status quo by accepting currencies other than the dollar for their oil. This would have been a major transition from the cureent system and it lead to war. Iran is following in Iraq's foot steps. But the US is under too much debt to start another war and Iran is not Iraq (this would be one hell of a war).

Couldn't have put it better myself.

On their behalf I think Americans are viewed as arrogant, but it actually stems from ignorance of not knowing much about anything outside of America. <- That is disputable and I'm only basing this on what I see on the media, behind some scenes and a lot of movies lol. America is definately up it's own ass because they think their way is the only correct way and they force their ideologies onto others while maintaining it's for their own good. As you said. No doubt it is a great country in many respects but it's all short term and looking through history it has had a hold on the world for a relatively short time.

Their fear however I think can apply to all cultures, countries etc. ANYone that cannot adapt to or doesn't want change.

American's lifestyle based on greed and fortunes based on other's misfortunes while maintaining their innocence yet at the same time being educated about other's misfortunes has come back to bite them in the ass. Not just poverty and deprivation in other countries, but pollution, ideologies etc.

So I wouldn't call it madness... but hypocritical and selfish.

I would say it is one of the most hypocritical nations ever.