Rubio's Munich Speech, Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about the speech given by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference held in Munich, Germany. The speech was the clearest indication to date of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump's vision for a future international order. As I wrote, what Rubio outlined was a version of the current rules-based system with its worst aspects magnified. I should have added that the best aspects of the rules-based system would be weakened. The result would be an international system primarily aimed at benefiting the United States, with other countries expected to play little more than a supporting role. I ended yesterday's post by noting that much of Rubio's speech dealt with an ahistorical version of history. I will discuss that aspect of his talk today.

Before going further, I want to provide some updates to yesterday's post. In that article, I contrasted Rubio's vision of the world order to one outlined by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. In contrast to a system dominated by the United States, Carney argued for countries that he referred to as "middle powers" establishing their own alliances and agreements in order to become strong enough to deal equally with the United States. After publishing my post yesterday, I came across an article on Politico's EU site headlined, "Carney constructs a mega anti-Trump trade alliance". According to the article, Canada is spearheading discussions to create "one of the largest global economic alliances" that would include 1.5 billion people and nearly 40 nations. If this comes to pass, it will be a huge win for Carney and a serious setback for Trump.

A second story along these lines was published yesterday in The Guardian, this one headlined "UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative amid Trump fears". According to the article, a meeting will be held this week to discuss the establishment of an alternative payment system to Visa and Mastercard. There is concern in the United Kingdom that Trump could simply turn off the U.S. payment systems, throwing the U.K.'s economy into turmoil. The article says that similar efforts are going on in the EU. If these efforts succeed, they will again weaken U.S. influence and U.S. businesses.

These stories perfectly illustrate the dangers of the Trump policy. Instead of a world in which Trump can dictate to other nations as he seems to desire, we are more likely to see a world in which international alliances are able to stand up against Trump. Moreover, as the U.S. disentangles itself from foreign economies, U.S. businesses will be replaced by local alternatives. The result will be a much weakened United States. It is notable that this process is occurring in countries such as Canada and the UK, two of our historically closest allies.

The world order presented by Rubio to the Europeans was one of U.S. hegemony with other countries serving U.S. interests. Rubio attempted to sell this idea by making a cultural argument, saying:

We are part of one civilization – Western civilization. We are bound to one another by the deepest bonds that nations could share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made together for the common civilization to which we have fallen heir.

Rubio is proposing an explicitly Christian White nationalist vision in which Trump will be the leader of the Western world. Rubio's speech, however, ignored history. Rubio would go on to discuss the contributions to civilization of Mozart and Beethoven, Michelangelo and Da Vinci, and the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. But Rubio ignored the contributions to "Western" civilization that came from elsewhere. For instance, when Rubio counts, he uses Arabic numerals. Algebra is an Arabic word, coming from "al-Jabr" which was the name of a mathematical manuscript published in 820. "Western" civilization was influenced by a host of cultures of the East, including Arab, Persian, Indian, Chinese, and others.

Rubio would later recognize the contributions to the United States of European immigrants, including English, Scots-Irish, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian. However, he did not mention the Africans brought against their will, but who nevertheless made important contributions to our culture. Similarly, Rubio ignored the role of Chinese laborers and the contributions of the indigenous peoples who inhabited the Americas before the Europeans arrived. However Rubio's role was not to be a historian, but rather to promote the Trump ideology of the West as being Christian, White, and, generally, English-speaking. This is the MAGA ideology that Trump promotes domestically extended to Europe.

Rubio's message was primarily directed at the emerging White nationalist parties that have gained strength across Europe. It is no surprise that leaving Munich, Rubio went to Hungary to endorse Viktor Orbán in Hungary’s upcoming election. Rubio's Department of State posted on social media a quote from Rubio that began, "We do not want allies to be shackled by guilt and shame." In other words, Germans should be free to forget about the Holocaust, Britain, Portugal, and Spain need feel no shame for their role in the slave trade, and European countries should not feel guilt as a result of their colonial histories. History should be rewritten, not as a compilation of facts, but rather as an homage to the greatness of the West.

In this manner, Rubio's speech should be seen as direct interference in the internal affairs of our allies, if not an attack on liberal democracy itself. Rubio is encouraging Europeans to adopt MAGA's vision of society. Instead of multiculturalism, Rubio wants to encourage Western chauvinism in Europe. Rubio went from praising the contribution immigrants have made to the United States, including citing his own immigrant ancestors, to warning Europeans about the dangers of immigration. The irony was apparently completely lost on him. Rubio seemed to acknowledge that the U.S. has been, at times, heavy-handed in how it has treated Europe, saying "Americans may sometimes come off as a little direct and urgent in our counsel," but then excused this as being "because we care deeply."

Rubio was explicit in saying that he and Trump intended to pursue their vision of Trump as the leader and protector of a White Christian world based on what they perceive to be “Western" values. Rubio said that "we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone" but that they would welcome Europe joining the effort. The problem for the Europeans, as I have repeatedly said, is that they are only expected to play a secondary role. Trump has, on the one hand, encouraged local versions of MAGA nationalism in European countries while, on the other hand, explained to those nationalists that they are expected to put their countries' own interests behind those of the United States. This has proven unacceptable to those whose goal is to make their own countries great. Nor do the more moderate leaders appear to be interested in playing subservient roles in a new U.S.-dominated world order. The result is likely to be the U.S. standing alone, a weakened shell of the country that once led the world.