Rubio Urges Support, Europe Alarmed
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Marco Rubio urged European allies in Munich to align behind President Trump, but his rhetoric about a singular "Western civilization" alarmed Europeans who feared vassalization.
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This 👇
It’s telling what the White House highlights with regard to Rubio’s speech. „Shared heritage“, „Christian foundations“, „cultural legacy“, „cultural preservation“, and a rejection of globalism. That‘s at the heart of its understanding of „Western civilization“.
February 16, 2026 at 12:23 AM
This 👇
by Kori Schake
"Assembled European leaders are not buying it. Like a family still reeling from a betrayal in its midst, allies felt hostility from Mr Trump that has durably changed how Europe feels about its reliance on America. What was closeness now feels like dangerous dependency.”
America offers Europe warmer words, but a deep chill remains
Marco Rubio praises NATO allies in Munich, but most remain wary
www.economist.com
February 15, 2026 at 2:44 PM
"Assembled European leaders are not buying it. Like a family still reeling from a betrayal in its midst, allies felt hostility from Mr Trump that has durably changed how Europe feels about its reliance on America. What was closeness now feels like dangerous dependency.”
Wrote a thing about Marco Rubio's weird Munich speech. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/five-thoug...
Five Thoughts About Marco Rubio's Munich Security Conference Speech
In the hotel where it happened.
danieldrezner.substack.com
February 15, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Wrote a thing about Marco Rubio's weird Munich speech. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/five-thoug...
by Daniel W. Drezner Reposted by Kori Schake
As promised: danieldrezner.substack.com/p/five-thoug...
Five Thoughts About Marco Rubio's Munich Security Conference Speech
In the hotel where it happened.
danieldrezner.substack.com
February 15, 2026 at 6:08 PM
As promised: danieldrezner.substack.com/p/five-thoug...
Warmer tone?? Is that code for the hellish content???
Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a warmer tone at this year’s Munich Security Conference, but European officials say the trans-Atlantic fissure remains.
U.S. and Europe, No Longer Kindred Souls, Enter a Marriage of Convenience
Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a warmer tone at this year’s Munich Security Conference, but European officials say the trans-Atlantic fissure remains.
on.wsj.com
February 15, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Warmer tone?? Is that code for the hellish content???
by Judith Beyer
I read #Rubio |s speech. If German politicians, if #Europe |s politicians applauded afterwards, they have agreed to become vassal states of the US. Like Belarus for Russia. The “our” and “we” may have sounded inclusive to some, but the uttered “demand” in combination with “care” is purely colonial.
February 15, 2026 at 10:48 AM
People seem to be focusing, rightly, on the hideous ideology behind Rubio's remarks, but it's also just factually wrong. Europe is just as attached to national traditions, as socially conservative, as slow to respond to climate change and as hostile to migratory flows as America.
February 15, 2026 at 7:27 PM
People seem to be focusing, rightly, on the hideous ideology behind Rubio's remarks, but it's also just factually wrong. Europe is just as attached to national traditions, as socially conservative, as slow to respond to climate change and as hostile to migratory flows as America.
by Julie Novkov
@evanbernick.bsky.social is right. You should read the whole Rubio speech. I'd love to get my political theorist friends' take on this, but to me, it looks like an embrace of white Christian nationalism as the foundational principle of the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference - United States Department of State
SECRETARY RUBIO: Thank you very much. We gather here today as members of a historic alliance, an alliance that saved and changed the world. When this conference began in 1963, it was in a nation – ...
www.state.gov
February 15, 2026 at 1:20 PM
@evanbernick.bsky.social is right. You should read the whole Rubio speech. I'd love to get my political theorist friends' take on this, but to me, it looks like an embrace of white Christian nationalism as the foundational principle of the United States.
Rubio’s tone deafness in making assumptions about what would strike a chord rather than nauseate … My Yiddish and German speaking relatives were among millions who arrived in America carrying the trauma of persecution by Christians.
The Rubio speech really is appalling, and if you haven’t read it yet, you should.
www.state.gov/releases/off...
www.state.gov/releases/off...
February 15, 2026 at 7:47 AM
Rubio’s tone deafness in making assumptions about what would strike a chord rather than nauseate … My Yiddish and German speaking relatives were among millions who arrived in America carrying the trauma of persecution by Christians.
Reposted by Nathan P. Kalmoe
Shock around Rubio speech seems a variation of same delusion that led legacy media to inaccurately declare it a softer touch, as if Rubio, a Latino man who once disputed Trumpism, is an alternative voice. He’s not. He joined fascism; now he’s a fascist; he gave a fascist speech, because fascism.
February 15, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Shock around Rubio speech seems a variation of same delusion that led legacy media to inaccurately declare it a softer touch, as if Rubio, a Latino man who once disputed Trumpism, is an alternative voice. He’s not. He joined fascism; now he’s a fascist; he gave a fascist speech, because fascism.