US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke in Greece on the third anniversary of October 7, 2023. He spoke Wednesday against the epic backdrop of the Parthenon on the summit of the Acropolis in Athens. In his speech, he sought to channel the world of the ancient Greeks and contrast it with today’s world. His message was clear: It is in Athens and the Greek city-states that Western civilization has its roots. We must look to those roots, the way the Romans once looked to their swords after the sack of Rome in 390 BCE, to renew and defend our way of life.
Rubio’s speech is emblematic of the attempt of the American administration’s attempt to highlight the Trump doctrine. Rubio wanted to articulate the Trump administration’s underlying ideology and give a resounding speech that will live into the future.
This is a symbol of our time, like US president John Kennedy going to Berlin or US ambassador to the UN Adlai Stevenson speaking at the United Nations during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The way of life of the ancient Greeks may seem foreign to us, Rubio noted, because our way of life has become obsessed with safety, in contrast to their feats. We don’t know the shame of defeat or the glory of victory. In this, he was also channeling the words of Teddy Roosevelt and the concept of the “man in the arena.”
America’s top diplomat talked about how the Western way of life has too often become about rewarding the average and the mediocre. He contrasted this with the Parthenon in Athens. The Greek city-states were filled with conflict and passion. They fought to distinguish themselves, and they worked on art and philosophy.
Rubio’s speech described the Greeks as creating a great civilization. Thumos is the Greek word for “spiritedness.” The US secretary of state contrasted their sense of spirit with how those in the West now teach their children to be ashamed of nationalism.
The West has decayed. We have transferred our sovereignty in some cases. “As the West’s confidence faltered, its adversaries and rivals only became more assertive,” Rubio said.
Today the West is at a crossroads. “The next decade and the decisions we make will write the story of the next century,” he noted, querying whether the West will maintain its place at the head of the world or decline and find itself in servitude.
Act now, Rubio urged.
He said that under US President Trump, America is working toward national power and to rebuild its defense industrial base (DEB).
The United States will rebuild the economy and master new technologies such as chips, cyber, and drones. A new age of exploration in space is coming, Rubio added, in the ultimate expression of the Trump doctrine.
Willingness to use military force
The American politician also discussed the willingness to use force, referring to “the classical understanding of politics and statecraft that the Trump admin hopes to reclaim for our country and civilization.”
Rubio said he believes Europe can awaken from its slumber and rekindle its spirit. This means increasing defense spending and incorporating new manufacturing.
He praised modern Greece, noting that it has been a model ally of the US and saying that he hoped Europe would follow Athens’ example. This relates to Greek defense spending and its work on migration and other issues.
Recently, Greece began work on what it calls the Achilles Shield, a major defense initiative. Athens signed a deal with Israel in late August to acquire air defense systems such as Spyder, David’s Sling, and the Barak MX system.
The point that the US secretary of state was making is also linked to American history. He described how the US developed across the European continent: “Born in Athens, formed by Rome, baptized in Christendom, hardened in the furnace of medieval Europe, endowed with the English genius for liberty, and then carried across the Atlantic to be reborn on the shores of a new world.”
Rubio spoke about an inflection point in our civilization, adding, “The threats we face today are every bit as real as on the dramatic stage of antiquity.”
With the new competition between great powers and the wars, the US wants to rebuild institutions and alliances, Rubio said.
Today, Greece is one of America’s key allies in the Eastern Mediterranean. Another is Israel. Turkey is also a NATO ally of the US. The Trump administration has excellent relations with Saudi Arabia, Syria, and many other countries, too.
Rubio's speech helps show where the US administration's path
Rubio’s speech lit one more light along the dark road of the current global crisis. It helped point the way to where the US wants to go in the future.
He has tended to focus on certain parts of the Trump administration’s policies in particular. For instance, he has focused less on the Iran conflict and more on the doctrine in Latin America. He has focused less on Russia and more on other policies in Asia and Europe.
Yet in the Athens speech, Rubio explicitly criticized the “radical mullahs of Iran.”
He is one of the most articulate of the Trump administration’s top officials, in terms of explaining the president’s doctrine and harnessing history to it.
What does the Athens speech tell us?
In a world where the film Odyssey has been a resounding success, there is an appetite for learning about the ancient Greeks.
The Greeks are also not lost on discussions in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken about the country becoming a kind of “super Sparta.” Israel channels many of the values that Rubio praised, such as being a nationalist country that defends its borders and has a strong defense industrial base.
Israel, as the country of the Jewish people, also has connections to both Western civilization and older civilizations in the Middle East.
Rubio’s speech in Athens was aimed primarily at a Western European audience. The idea of Europe waking from its slumber is not new. The continent has slumbered before, for instance in the years after the Great War (WWI), as well as in earlier centuries, such as the Dark Ages after Rome and during periods in the Medieval era.
Each time, Europe has managed to recover, just as Rome recovered after its sacking in the fourth century BCE.