BRUSSELS — IF London is Europe’s New York, Brussels is our Washington, D.C., a small city made globally important by the political institutions centered here, and at the same time, and perhaps for that reason, often unloved by the people who pass through it. In the eyes of jaded Western travelers it is boring, so clogged with international bureaucracy that it has no soul.

They’re wrong. True, Brussels is not dominated by a single, longstanding and widely appealing national culture, like Rome, Paris or Berlin. But that absence has been filled with a vibrant international cosmopolitanism that allows all cultures to feel at home in its diverse array of ethnic restaurants, neighborhoods and assorted entertainments. A fulcrum of power and underrated as a town, Brussels is livelier and prettier than most people think. Only Eurocrats, lobbyists and spies get it. Most other Europeans miss the point.

We miss something else, something that is even more important. Brussels represents a Continent that has come a long way. After centuries of disastrous infighting, over the last 70 years Europeans have seen no more major wars, steadily rising prosperity and a way of life that most of the world would give its eyeteeth for.

You can travel across borders and live more or less where you like. Whether your home is in Lisbon, Warsaw or Palermo, you can take your kids to a hospital when they’re ill and they’ll get looked after. It’s free, most of the time. If you’re stopped by the police, they won’t harass you, beat you up or demand cash. If you don’t like your leaders, you can kick them out (or try, anyway).