During trips to Europe when Barack Obama was president of the United States, I felt like a rock star because, well, he was one, and some of that sheen couldn’t help but rub off on any random American. It was a point his Republican antagonists used to attack him, as though possessing celebrity-style charisma was a bad thing. (If only members of the GOP could have predicted the future, when their own candidate was best known for listing the TV show “The Apprentice” on his thin political resume.)

I fondly remember those trips, when I got a few free drinks and lots of conversation. Those Europeans admired that America, a country with a history of racial segregation and racist violence, could progress enough to elect an African American as its president. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Obama was a man with extraordinary political and personal gifts, and had a picture-perfect family to match.

While neither I nor any Black American I knew bought into the fantasy of a post-racial America — our own experiences and U.S. history taught us better — I felt very protective and proud of my country. I knew their own countries could not claim a parallel achievement and didn’t hesitate to tell them so, even as I enjoyed their hospitality. Maybe our young democracy was as civilized as those lands imagined themselves.

I was told that while our country’s politics could sometimes be messy, it all seemed to work. Agreeing did not erase America’s struggles, but it did acknowledge growth.

Then came Jan. 6, 2021. It wasn’t just many Americans who were shocked, who internalized those images of citizens pummeling law enforcement, erecting gallows and hoisting Confederate flags while marching through the Capitol as they tried and barely failed to overturn an election. Many observers could not believe that even after that defilement, a majority of House Republicans and a few U.S. senators signed on to support undemocratic lies.

For some Americans, the realization that we were ripe for 21st-century electoral turmoil, dividing a country that prides itself on unity, meant that a narrative cultivated at home and abroad needed serious reevaluation.

The same outsiders who, sometimes grudgingly, had to credit American exceptionalism now could see past that mirage. They saw an America they did not recognize, though many of us knew it was always there, just below the surface.

A recent luncheon sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Charlotte featured the discussion “Transatlantic Relations – A Fireside Chat with EU Diplomats,” and brought together 18 European Union diplomats from 15 countries with backgrounds in journalism, public affairs, communications and media relations. Joining the guest list were students from around the world, studying at U.S. colleges and universities. The council, a member of the World Affairs Councils of America, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan outreach program of UNC Charlotte and its Office of International Programs.

It was perfect timing.

Since my last European visit was a year and a half ago, I was interested in checking in with EU representatives during this U.S. election season. There was a lot to discuss, issues of interest to America, including trade, climate policy, stimulating innovation and security. And it was refreshing to hear from the rest of the world when American political rhetoric seems more focused on closing minds as well as any dialogue when it comes to global challenges.

Whether it was immigration, exports from North Carolina to EU countries and the investments and jobs that represents, or shared values between the EU and the U.S., the meeting covered essential lessons and was a reminder that we are hardly alone in the world. America’s actions reverberate far beyond its borders.

What was notable was how large the war in Ukraine loomed. The issue is increasingly a dividing line between Democratic officials who pledge to strengthen alliances and many Republicans who take the opposite view, following the lead of former president and current presidential nominee Donald Trump, who, when standing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month, bragged about his “very good relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a figurative poke in the eye to an ally.

The last package of U.S. aid to Ukraine was delayed by partisan bickering that is far from resolved when “America First” and what that means are still front and center. 

Trump’s Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris counters with her own pledge to maintain strong alliances, though that may not resonate with some voters. Americans rightly concerned about the economy, reproductive rights and immigration usually don’t place Ukraine’s predicament high on the list. But then, we don’t share close proximity with a country led by someone with the goal of expansion, nostalgia for the Soviet Union and a record of control maintained by brutally crushing dissent.

The representatives at the luncheon meeting were, as expected, diplomatic about the upcoming U.S. election; EU countries will be working with whomever American citizens send to the White House. That is their responsibility and duty. As one said, “Our position does not change.” What they can do is explain how the actions or inactions of the U.S. can affect each member country.

But are Americans immune from such concerns? When I hear a presidential candidate musing, as Trump did in a recent Fox News interview, about sending the National Guard and U.S. military to retaliate against the “enemy from within,” which would be whomever he thinks that is on any given day, the rhetoric of a would-be dictator doesn’t seem so far away.

Mary C. Curtis has worked at The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Charlotte Observer, as national correspondent for Politics Daily, and is a senior facilitator with The OpEd Project. She is host of the CQ Roll Call “Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis” podcast. Follow her on X @mcurtisnc3.