Bydgoszcz, Poland (CNN) -- I first visited Poland in 1990, just after the end of communist rule. Back then, the United States meant everything to people here: freedom, protection, opportunity, hope. I worked for The Wall Street Journal at the time. That business card resonating with capitalism opened every door. It even persuaded a border official not to pass my camera through a Soviet-era X-ray machine. Twenty years later, Poland has become a stable democracy. It has joined NATO and the European Union. True, wages remain low by Western standards. And to the eye, Poland still shows the scars of its communist past: Half the population still lives in communist-era high-rise slabs.
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David Frum visited post-communist Poland in 1990; nation was eager to connect with U.S.
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Now, 20 years later, democratic Poland part of EU, NATO;  U.S. seems less central in importance
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Poland has closer connections in EU, he says, have had awkward political moments with U.S.
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Frum: U.S. still key to security, has goodwill history with Poland, but its importance dwindling
That fact might matter less if there were other regions of the world where @placeholder's clout was increasing.