Marco Rubio's address to the Munich Security Conference has been greeted as a welcome change in tone after last year's blistering attack on Europe by JD Vance. Yet according to Nathalie Tocci, the US secretary of state's performance was nothing of the kind, but rather a more subtle variation of the same ideological message.
Last year, Vance stunned the audience by accusing European democracies of succumbing to the tyranny of woke liberals and endorsing far-right nationalists such as Germany's AfD. In response, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz used his opening remarks to declare that 'the culture war of the Maga movement is not ours'. This year, Rubio offered warm words about shared heritage, history and Christianity, describing the US as a 'child of Europe' intent on spearheading a western renaissance.
Tocci, however, argues that Rubio's speech and Vance's were 'two sides of the same coin'. While Vance's was crude and at times absurd, Rubio's was more coherent but carried the same ethno-political emphasis on culture, tradition and religion. Rubio also dismissed the rules-based international order as 'foolish', suggesting that raw power would define the coming 'western century' under US leadership.
In her analysis, Tocci contends that Rubio's vision is fundamentally imperial: the Americas and Europe are tied by ancestry and faith, but it is the US that calls the shots. Smaller European nations, Canada and South American states would be expected to pay for their own defence while accepting Washington's dominance. The US might cooperate or even collude with other empires, including Russia and China, at the expense of its allies.
Tocci concludes that Rubio's message, although more sophisticated and strategic than Vance's, is 'just as dangerous, if not more so'. Europeans, she suggests, should recognise the trap rather than take comfort in a polished delivery and a standing ovation born of relief rather than approval.
