I don't think anyone in that room sees the relinquishing of imperial control a sign of decline. Nor was the west immediately in decline after 1945. First, the costs of empire were (and maybe long had) exceeded the return. Second, the US was actively pushing against European empires as the cruelty and evil inherent in maintaining them were a great recruiting tool for communism. So ending the age of imperialism was a US project, that arguably strengthened Europe and was a tool in combating communism. Is Rubio ignorant of these things (as well as the renaissance and enlightenment thought that first smade European dominance possible), imagine that his audience is ignorant of it, or just playing to the MAGA audience?
Rubio’s sugar-coating on Vance’s rhetoric and Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy Statement doesn’t make terrible policy any better. It’s just more regime gaslighting—of the whole world.
"...its missionaries, its pilgrims, its soldiers, its explorers pouring out from its shores to cross oceans, settle new continents, build vast empires extending out across the globe..." (cue Disney soundtrack). Sounds like mass migration to me. The "hammer and sickle" are making a big comeback, and as far as I know Putin is still godless and a czarist wannabe - speaking of imperialism. Thank you for breaking it down. I can't find it in me to watch him make his beer joke and then struggle through the speech without so much as a water bottle.
The Trump administration loves, loves, loves Western civilization. Right up until the Enlightenment, when things got woke.
I don't think anyone in that room sees the relinquishing of imperial control a sign of decline. Nor was the west immediately in decline after 1945. First, the costs of empire were (and maybe long had) exceeded the return. Second, the US was actively pushing against European empires as the cruelty and evil inherent in maintaining them were a great recruiting tool for communism. So ending the age of imperialism was a US project, that arguably strengthened Europe and was a tool in combating communism. Is Rubio ignorant of these things (as well as the renaissance and enlightenment thought that first smade European dominance possible), imagine that his audience is ignorant of it, or just playing to the MAGA audience?
You make an excellent point about the United States playing a key role in the initial post-1945 push towards decolonization.
Rubio’s sugar-coating on Vance’s rhetoric and Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy Statement doesn’t make terrible policy any better. It’s just more regime gaslighting—of the whole world.
If you like my perspective, please look for my substck: Toward a New Common Ground. Hope to see you there!
"...its missionaries, its pilgrims, its soldiers, its explorers pouring out from its shores to cross oceans, settle new continents, build vast empires extending out across the globe..." (cue Disney soundtrack). Sounds like mass migration to me. The "hammer and sickle" are making a big comeback, and as far as I know Putin is still godless and a czarist wannabe - speaking of imperialism. Thank you for breaking it down. I can't find it in me to watch him make his beer joke and then struggle through the speech without so much as a water bottle.