While traveling internationally in recent years I have metAmericans who pass themselves off as Canadians to spare themselves anyanti-American sentiments they may encounter on other continents. I have neverunderstood this willingness to misrepresent one's nationality. From the darkdays after the announcement of the American abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraibprison in Iraq,to the international excitement that built around our last presidentialelection – in bad or good times – not once have I been tempted to deny being anAmerican. In fact, it's been the opposite. The more critical the world has beenof the U.S.,the more important it has been for me to be "out" as an American whiletraveling around the globe. My contention is that most critics of America(not extremists, but your casual anti-Americans) base their criticism on ourforeign policies that they often fundamentally disagree with; and theimpressions of our country that they gather from American television programsthat are widely seen outside of our shores. It is not unusual that I encounterpeople in my travels who have never met an American before, or who certainlyhave never actually talked with an American in the past. Once engaged inconversation, however, it's really quite amazing to see how quickly assumptionsand stereotypes start to dissolve. Time and again, following a multi-nationalencounter, people have said to me: "I still don't like America,but I like you." And my response is always the same: "But I am America."

It is unlikely that most of the people I meet on my travelswill ever be able to earn the money needed to travel to the United States the same way that I can journey totheir countries. (Which in and of itself makes a case for the fact that theAmerican dream of success – albeit more challenging these days – remains apossibility.) Still, a few people I have met, especially in South Africa, have become lifelong friends and havenow visited my country. And just like my international experiences have beenlife-changing for me, their experiences in the U.S.were transformative for them. One of these people initially told me that he had nointerest in ever stepping foot in the United States. Having changed his mind, and afterspending three weeks in the U.S., he has become an ambassador for all things American. He still disagrees withmuch of America'sforeign policies, but he now sees our nation in all of its richness and complexity.

We have a long way to go before Americaregains the stature it once had in the world. Perhaps that will never happenagain. But it certainly won't change until every single American who travelsinternationally comes out of the closet, proudly presents their passport andsays, "Yep, I'm American."