SEN McCORMICK: Rubio’s Munich speech is a vital wake-up call for the West

Europe is at a crossroads. To save itself and our cherished Transatlantic alliance, it must not only change its policy but also rededicate itself to the common heritage of Western Civilization.

That was the message Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered this weekend at the Munich Security Conference in a defining foreign policy speech of our time. Known for platitudes and blank stares, he diagnosed the roots of Europe’s decline and offered a clear vision of how America and its European allies could reunite to preserve the most important alliance in human history. It couldn’t have come at a better time.

The NATO alliance, established in the shadow of the Iron Curtain, has been the foundation of American, European and even global security for decades. It stopped the advance of communism. He brought peace to a continent reeling from centuries of brutal wars. He reunited Europe.

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It is an alliance bound together by sacrifice and history. Like generations of American soldiers before and after, I crossed into Iraq with a French unit at the beginning of the First Gulf War and fought alongside our NATO allies in the 82nd Airborne. And when America was attacked on September 11, our NATO allies answered our call. They shed blood together with our young men and women in uniform in the mountains of Afghanistan and the streets of Iraq.

This bond remains, but Secretary Rubio warned that it has become even weaker as our allies pursue policies of controlled de-escalation. They have crippled their productive capacity with so-called “green energy” policies, allowed deindustrialization to neutralize their defense capabilities, and neglected the structure of their own societies through mass, uncontrolled immigration. They have failed to fulfill their end of the bargain in the alliance, and the marriage between the United States and Europe now needs to be mended.

But the roots of the decline go deeper than policy choices, into the psyche of Western society. Secretary Rubio sees this truth, and that’s why all Americans need to hear him speak.

These words remind us of what leaders in the United States and across Europe are charged with defending: a sacred legacy from the ancestors of Western Civilization—the civilization that gave us Beethoven, established the rule of law, built the Sistine Chapel, sustained a rich philosophical tradition, and took us to the moon—only now facing serious and existential threats.

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It is this bond of shared history and cultural heritage, as well as the cold realities of geopolitics, that holds our nations together. Not vague abstractions, powerless international organizations, or even transatlantic trade.

Our European allies have forgotten this fact. Often, they traded national interests and hard power for vague and moral appeals to international institutions and a bloated welfare state. The Trump administration, as expressed in Secretary Rubio’s speech, has rejected this failing status quo and advocated an honest, unyielding foreign policy designed to support our national interests.

Under President Donald Trump, this administration implemented this policy. It reasserted American dominance and our nation’s extraordinary role as a leader on the world stage. It was American leadership, not the United Nations or any other international organization, that brought peace to the Middle East, destroyed Iran’s nuclear program, and ended the reign of the narco-terrorist dictator.

This is not about leaving Europe, withdrawing from the world stage, or giving up America’s role as a world leader. Nor is this the misguided doctrine of internationalists eager to expend blood and treasure to export ideology to distant lands. This is a sobering understanding of the realities of power and what is needed to secure the United States and Europe as we face a changing world together.

Secretary Rubio’s speech marks a decisive moment for the US-led global order. Equally importantly, it serves as a powerful call to defenders of the West to defend a common civilization with a beautiful past and a future that must be met by an alliance built on this deep and enduring bond.

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I believe that many people in Europe will heed this call. On a recent visit with several of my colleagues in the U.S. Senate to Norway, Finland, Estonia, and Denmark, we met with leaders focused on rebuilding their hard power, deterring the Russian bear on their borders, and revitalizing the heart and soul of the NATO alliance. Most of the people I spoke to understood what was at stake. They had learned the bitter lessons of the war in Ukraine and Europe’s incompetent response.

I hope these voices will speak to Secretary Rubio and that he will “unapologetic about our legacy and be proud of that shared legacy.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF SEN’S NEWS. DAVID McCMORICK