American here and I think your wording was spot on.

It WAS seen as a “shining beacon” by many around the world.

SEEN as. And as someone who was born here, I can assure you that many in the US absolutely know that is a facade at best.

The shell began cracking in other parts of the world decades ago (longer in places like Africa), but for most Europeans and the mostly un-terrorized-by-US-military countries, I think the turning point was “WMDs” in the early 00s. When every other “Major” country is either silent or outright saying “we have no Intel suggesting this” then you can’t really claim to have moral superiority, and once you see a liar as a liar, it’s all downhill from there.

“seen as” was absolutely the correct phrase, as it was only an illusion.