I am thinking of the line in the film 2010
When the Soviet politician meeting Heywood Floyd at the VLA says how
it would look pretty good for the USSR to be the ones helping transport
a few American astronauts to Jupiter aboard a Soviet spacecraft.
Maybe we can still get back to the Moon if the US/NASA under the
guise of the spirit of international cooperation lets the ESA help us get
there by using Ariane 5.
The ISS didn't have to be done by many nations, but a deep space
expedition and colonization effort is another story.