All of this sounded very good to European ears after a year that had horrified all those committed to transatlantic relations. It is not just the administration that Rubio represents that has accused Europe of inviting a “civilizational atonement.”
By Carl BILDT
As soon as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rose to speak at the Munich Security Conference this year, it became clear that the Trump administration intended to change the rhetoric toward America’s longtime European allies. While Vice President JD Vance used his speech last year to threaten and insult European leaders, Rubio seemed eager to praise them. After paying homage to European history and culture — highlighting achievements ranging from the Sistine Chapel to the Beatles — he acknowledged that the United States is itself a child of Europe.
All of this sounded very good to European ears after a year that had horrified all those committed to transatlantic relations. Not only has the administration Rubio represents accused Europe of inviting “civilizational redemption.” It has even threatened to invade Greenland, the sovereign territory of another NATO member (Denmark). Was Rubio signaling a change? On the contrary, as the applause died down, it soon became clear that the Trump administration’s basic message remains the same. Both in substance and in its outlook on the world, Rubio’s speech revealed a deep divide between the Trump administration and the Europeans in the room. It is worth noting that Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine was mentioned only in passing, and without any hint of criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Yet with an estimated 1.2 million casualties, a war front stretching 1,200 kilometers, and more than 400 Russian attack drones targeting Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian centers last week, one would think that the unfolding horror on NATO’s eastern flank would merit mention. The threat posed by Russia is a major concern for Europeans, because they understand that defending Ukraine today is vital to European security tomorrow. For the Trump administration, however, the issue is hardly worth mentioning. In terms of basic threat perceptions, the gap between the US and Europe could not be wider.
Before praising European culture and history, Rubio presented the MAGA version, as if in a mirror, of the events leading up to the present moment. The decades since the end of the Cold War were based on a “dangerous illusion” and a “dogmatic vision of free and unrestricted trade,” he argued. “Rules-based global order” is “an overblown term” that ignores the lessons of 5,000 years of human history and has pushed many societies toward “the appeasement of a climate cult.” It’s no secret that “rules-based order” is a MAGA phantom.
Another member of the Trump administration who was present, Elbridge Colby, the grandson of Richard Nixon’s CIA director William Colby, noted with amusement that he had heard the term mentioned only once at a recent NATO ministerial meeting. Of course, no European outside the continent’s most extreme political fringes shares this view. We understand that the rules-based global order has never been perfect, and that anyone who is inclined to list its failures and shortcomings can easily do so.
But we also know that its achievements since the last bloody conflict between the great powers have been almost miraculous. During the decades-long period of relative peace and stability after World War II, the global population tripled, life expectancy doubled, and the world economy grew 15-fold. It was the longest period without a war between the great powers since the end of the Roman Empire.
There is simply no denying that the web of global rules, norms, and agreements was a key factor in making this possible. Nor is there any doubt that the rules-based order is under grave threat. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a flagrant violation of one of its most fundamental rules: respect for territorial integrity. Similarly, China has ignored international rulings regarding its territorial claims in the South China Sea, and the Trump administration has flouted rules and norms with gleeful contempt. In addition to insulting the United Nations and launching a trade war against the entire world, it has violated numerous international agreements and withdrawn the United States from international bodies that oversee everything from global health to climate change. By contrast, Europeans believe that what is left of the rules-based order is worth preserving.
In fact, they are trying to strengthen many of its main pillars. This is what the European Union’s new free trade agreements with the South American Mercosur bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and with India are about. Moreover, Europeans are joining others to preserve global progress in combating climate change and mitigating health threats. Europe has no interest in a world subject to the whims of the powerful, where rights have no meaning because the defenseless can always be thrown to the wolves. Rubio’s comments did not go quite that far, but statements by others in the Trump administration did. America’s top diplomat may have offered a better, softer presentation than his boss would have, but the message was the same. The transatlantic gap has become massive, and it continues to widen. (Euronews.al)
(The author is a former Prime Minister and former Foreign Minister of Sweden)