Rubio's speech in Munich: it is one of the most revisionist and imperialist speeches I've ever seen a senior American official make, and that's saying something.
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/2023259041544507669
Finally got to read Rubio's speech in Munich: it is one of the most revisionist and imperialist speeches I've ever seen a senior American official make, and that's saying something.
The man literally laments the outcome of WW2 because it marked the end of the era during which "the West had been expanding", a "path" he "hopes [the US and Europe] walk together again."
And just to ensure you're clear about what he means: he wants to restore the building of "vast empires extending across the globe" and blames "anti-colonial uprisings" for what they did to "the great Western empires."
He also says that "we cannot continue" to allow "abstractions of international law" get in the way of US interests.
Basically the man is openly saying that the whole post-colonial order was a mistake and he's calling on Europe to share the spoils of building a new one.
Which is quite a pitch for an American to make given that their own country itself was born from revolt against European colonialism, but I guess expecting the Trump administration to understand their own history is too tall an order...
The most troubling part was the reaction of the audience: "half the hall in Munich gave US Secretary of State Marco Rubio a standing ovation" (chathamhouse.org/2026/02/west-v) and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the Global South half...
It just goes to show the complete absence of reflection in Europe. Rubio undoubtedly tried to appeal to some sort of latent nostalgia for Western imperial dominance among European elites. And it obviously worked (which is scary in and of itself).
But it also shows that Europeans remain naive to the extreme if they believe Rubio's pitch that he wants Europe to be strong in order to share the spoils of a new age of Western imperialism.
What's the thinking here? That Trump's America - "America first" - would suddenly become magnanimous and share with Europe just out of sentiment? That's not how imperialism works: the whole premise of it is that the strong dominate the weak.
When an imperial power is speaking to you of sentiments, of how much they like you and how they want to partner with you - the much weaker party - that's cause for worry, not applause...
posted by Satish Sharma at
10:52
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