Mr. Rubio goes to Munich

Secretary of State Marco Rubio went to the Munich Security Conference and told the Europeans that America was not interested in abandoning Europe to its fate. For that he got a standing ovation. What is significant about this speech is that Rubio pulled no punches, compromised no principles, said all the hard truths out loud, and still got a standing ovation.

Up until recently it has seemed that the European elites have assumed that Trump was an aberration, a quirk of American politics who would gradually fade from view as normalcy reasserted itself. The globalist vision of the end of historywas not in danger. America would soon go back to writing cheques for European defence and watching football, and it would be back to business as usual.

But this speech, which was a masterpiece of rhetoric, pulled at the heartstrings of unity while at the same time referring to “the climate cult” that we appease by imposing policies that impoverish our people. It also asserted that mass migration is an existential threat to the culture of the West. But, in spite of such pronouncements, the Europeans appeared to be so relieved that America was declaring its solidarity with Europe that even truth bombs like this didn’t faze them—at least at first.

Three things stood out about this speech that made it the harbinger of a new era and a repudiation of the old era of post-colonial guilt, woke ideology, and economic self-harm.

First, it was a speech that asserted the cultural superiority of Western civilization. Rubio celebrated Western achievements in science, exploration, art, music, law, and government. He pointed out that for the five centuries prior to the end of World War II, Europe had constantly expanded outward to build civilization all over the world. There was no trace of guilt or shame about the export of European knowledge, trade, inventions, and the rule of law to the rest of the globe.

Yet, since 1945 when Europe lay in ruins, a defeatist mentality has set in that has caused Western civilization—and here he included the United States along with Europe—to lose vigor and retreat. Rubio argued that decline is a choice, not an externally imposed inevitability. He boldly declared, “We in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline.” He said that America wants allies that are strong enough to defend themselves, not shackled by guilt and shame, and who are proud of their history and culture. He pointed out that armies do not fight for abstractions, but for a concrete way of life. In essence, he said to Europe that our shared culture is worth defending.

Second, it was a speech with frequent references to Christianity as the heart of Western civilization. Rubio did not pretend that Europe could be Europe without Christianity, and he made it very clear that at its heart our civilizational malaise is a spiritual issue. It was an amazing experience to hear such words from an American secretary of state. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn could not have said it better! At the heart of “culture” is “cult” or religion. While religion is meaningful to individuals, it also defines the essence of a shared culture. Historically, what gave the West its identity was Christianity. This speech implied very strongly that without a revival of Christianity, Europe is doomed.

Third, it was a speech that framed civilizational decline as a choice, and future prosperity and civilizational greatness as a better choice. The West is choosing to hobble its own economy and make itself dependant on others for its critical minerals and its supply chain, and it is doing so out of self-hatred and false guilt. He called on Europeans to stop putting the global order above the vital interests of our people and our nations.

Rubio described the euphoria that arose as a result of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the victory in the Cold War as leading to the “dangerous delusion” that we live at the end of history. The idea that from now on all nations will embrace liberal democracy and operate peacefully within the vaunted “rules-based order” flies in the face of 5,000 years of human history. Nations need to be built up, guarded, and strengthened rather than transcended as outdated.

Rubio stressed over and over again throughout the speech that it is not too late for Europe. But essentially, he was calling for repentance. It is not too late to repent, but without repentance there is no future. All in all, it was one of the most remarkable speeches I have ever heard. The only question now is this: Will Europe take it to heart?