Rubio's Oct. 7 Athens Speech Draws Critique for Invoking Western Conquest Values
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 12
Rubio's Oct. 7 Athens Speech Draws Critique for Invoking Western Conquest Values
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 12
Summary
Athens became the stage for Marco Rubio's Oct. 7 address, where he said the US and Europe must revive the spirit of exploration and conquest or risk decline and irrelevance.
Critics argued the speech romanticized empire and "great men" while slighting the democratic equality, human rights and intellectual openness that US founders drew from Greece and Rome.
The Acropolis backdrop also sharpened the contrast with current policy: the administration has cut research funding, left the WHO and offered no new policy in the speech beyond broad civilizational rhetoric.
That message landed awkwardly as the Iran conflict strains US power — with the USS Abraham Lincoln returning damaged, 12 B-1 bombers moved from England and oil prices still elevated.
The speech followed Rubio's February warning of Europe's "civilizational erasure," but this time he paired the alarm with an appeal for Europe to "awaken" and rekindle an ancient fire.