Representatives from more than 115 countries gathered over the weekend for the annual Munich Security Conference. Little of substance usually emerges from this meeting, save that it provides a lens for what is foremost in the minds of those who attend. Sometimes, this involves a wide range of issues. Other times, there is only one fundamental issue on the table.

The issue this year is the shift in how the United States views its place in the world. In a way, this was a crisis meeting. It’s not that the world is facing catastrophe; it’s that the geopolitical system is profoundly changing, as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in his speech, and that many see those changes as an American betrayal.

The fundamental question facing the leaders in Munich: Can Europe evolve from a continent of small, divided and mutually distrustful nations into a global power? From a geopolitical standpoint, this is an imperative. But there is also a moral and historical question to answer. Is Europe doomed to return to its tragic history of division and mutual hostility? Perhaps. But it will not help Europe to blame the U.S. for a perceived betrayal, instead of understanding the new geopolitical reality.