In his speech over the weekend at the Munich Security Conference, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Europe to join the United States in shaping a new world order. At the same time, in softened language, he made clear that the invitation to cooperate requires Europe to adapt to the policy principles of the current administration.
Rubio highlighted the shared history and culture of the United States and Europe and emphasized that the United States is not interested in turning against Europe but rather in working with it to address the challenges of the international system. His remarks came against the backdrop of growing concern over the widening rift between Europe and the United States, expressed in part through tensions surrounding US efforts to pressure Denmark to sell Greenland. The speech took on particular significance in light of Vice President Vance’s harsh criticism of Europe on the same stage last year, which underscored the tensions between the US administration and the governments of Western Europe, largely revolving around those governments’ domestic policies on immigration and their handling of the nationalist right. In contrast, Rubio emphasized what the countries share rather than what divides them, seemingly in an attempt to lower tensions.
Although Rubio adopted a markedly different tone from Vance’s, many of the vice president’s claims were echoed in Rubio’s speech. Rubio called on Europe to mobilize anew to defend Western civilization—a formulation favored by the administration and reflected in its National Security Strategy—against political trends supporting immigration, multiculturalism, concern over the climate crisis, secularization, and reduced investment in security. He also called for reform of UN institutions, claiming that they had failed where the administration had succeeded—in releasing the hostages and ending the war in Gaza, opening dialogue between Ukraine and Russia, addressing the Iranian nuclear issue (which he presented as an entirely American achievement), and confronting the regime in Venezuela.
Rubio further emphasized that the administration would welcome cooperation with Europe if it increases defense spending, curbs immigration, raises trade barriers (implicitly against China), and pursues the reindustrialization of its economy, linking these objectives in part to the shared Christian culture of Europe and the United States. At the same time, he made it clear that if Europe does not meet these expectations, the United States is prepared to move forward without it.
Ultimately, while Rubio’s tone differed sharply from that adopted by other administration spokespeople over the past year, the political substance of the remarks was far less different.
In his speech over the weekend at the Munich Security Conference, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Europe to join the United States in shaping a new world order. At the same time, in softened language, he made clear that the invitation to cooperate requires Europe to adapt to the policy principles of the current administration.
Rubio highlighted the shared history and culture of the United States and Europe and emphasized that the United States is not interested in turning against Europe but rather in working with it to address the challenges of the international system. His remarks came against the backdrop of growing concern over the widening rift between Europe and the United States, expressed in part through tensions surrounding US efforts to pressure Denmark to sell Greenland. The speech took on particular significance in light of Vice President Vance’s harsh criticism of Europe on the same stage last year, which underscored the tensions between the US administration and the governments of Western Europe, largely revolving around those governments’ domestic policies on immigration and their handling of the nationalist right. In contrast, Rubio emphasized what the countries share rather than what divides them, seemingly in an attempt to lower tensions.
Although Rubio adopted a markedly different tone from Vance’s, many of the vice president’s claims were echoed in Rubio’s speech. Rubio called on Europe to mobilize anew to defend Western civilization—a formulation favored by the administration and reflected in its National Security Strategy—against political trends supporting immigration, multiculturalism, concern over the climate crisis, secularization, and reduced investment in security. He also called for reform of UN institutions, claiming that they had failed where the administration had succeeded—in releasing the hostages and ending the war in Gaza, opening dialogue between Ukraine and Russia, addressing the Iranian nuclear issue (which he presented as an entirely American achievement), and confronting the regime in Venezuela.
Rubio further emphasized that the administration would welcome cooperation with Europe if it increases defense spending, curbs immigration, raises trade barriers (implicitly against China), and pursues the reindustrialization of its economy, linking these objectives in part to the shared Christian culture of Europe and the United States. At the same time, he made it clear that if Europe does not meet these expectations, the United States is prepared to move forward without it.
Ultimately, while Rubio’s tone differed sharply from that adopted by other administration spokespeople over the past year, the political substance of the remarks was far less different.