“You Americans are so good at beating yourself up. It is remarkable. There’s this sense of shrinking influence on the world. It’s not true. Nearly 5 million lives have been saved around the world because of American leadership. In polling about countries that most admire the U.S., eight of the top 10 are in Africa.” 

In honor of World AIDS Day, Bono talks to TIME managing editor Rick Stengel in next week’s issue. Listen to their entire conversation on TIME.com. 

Photo by Peter Hapak for TIME