Marco Rubio is promoting troubling ideas about ‘Western civilization’ | Ted Widmer
In a recent visit to Greece, the secretary of state suggested that Europe must rediscover the values of conquest and expansion They had obviously worked hard on the backdrop – and it was magnificent. On 7 October, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, delivered a major speech in Athens, outdoors, with the Acropolis behind him. The sun was setting, bathing the ancient scene, including the Parthenon, in the light of…
Key points
- Marco Rubio gave a speech in Athens on 7 October urging the West to rediscover conquest and expansion.
- The article argues Rubio's historical claims are flawed and ignore non-Western contributions.
- The speech offered no new policies and was criticized as a photo op.
On 7 October, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a major speech in Athens with the Acropolis as a backdrop. He argued that the US and Europe must rediscover the values of exploration and conquest that once drove centuries of expansion, or face decline and irrelevance.
The speech, given at sunset, was described as an exercise in nostalgia that lamented the decline of Western civilization. Rubio pointed to figures such as Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar as models.
Historical claims challenged
The article argues that Rubio's assumptions would not survive a freshman seminar. It notes that the founders read ancient Greek and Roman literature to justify a democracy of equals, not a civilization of conquest. Thomas Jefferson cited Cicero's view that citizens of the same republic ought to have equal rights, and Abraham Lincoln was influenced by Euclid's definition of equality.
The article also questions what 'the west' means, asking whether Vladimir Putin or Adolf Hitler would be invited. It points out that much knowledge flowed into Greece and Rome from eastern places, such as writing from ancient Sumer and mathematics from the Arabs.
We believe that Europe can awaken from its long slumber and rekindle the fire that was here millennia ago.
— Marco Rubio
Context and criticism
The article notes that Rubio's speech came during a week when the war against Iran was not going well, with the USS Abraham Lincoln limping into San Diego and B-1 bombers evacuated from England. It says the speech's heroes would not rush to claim this as a conqueror's legacy.
It also criticizes the speech for ignoring cuts to scientific research and the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization. A former White House science adviser, Arati Prabhakar, has argued these cuts lead less to a 'golden age' than to the stone age. The article concludes that the speech offered no new policies and was merely a beautiful photo op.
