Much has been written and discussed about this question. My take is that it is not very complicated and has little to do with the ebb and flow of contemporary political alliances, distribution of energy resources, economics or "our foreign policy".

Across the planet, merely observe and consider the regimes that they live under and their view of themselves in the world and their relationship to those regimes. Then consider ours. The answer I think, is in the first part of our Declaraton of Independence.

Key words: UNALIENABLE RIGHTS 

Definition: Incapable of being repudiated or transferred to another.

Very simply, these rights exist for every human - not just Americans.

Our Republic was founded on the fact that EACH human being possesses those rights from birth. They are NOT granted by any religion, any philosophy, any culture or any government - but they can be taken away by any or all of the above.

FREEDOM: THEY CALL IT DECADENCE. WE CALL IT A RIGHT.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."