Marco Rubio’s Earnest, Flawed Defense of the West

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking on Wednesday in Athens, Greece, delivered perhaps the most robust defense of Western civilization since Ronald Reagan’s 1982 Westminster speech, during the throes of the Cold War. In explaining America’s political and cultural debt to ancient Greece, however, Rubio overlooked the tragedy of Athenian democracy — its descent into hubris and tyrannical rule — to support a narrative of political power unrestrained by moral principle.

“We choose the unapologetic pursuit of national power,” Rubio told his audience. Toward what end? Remarkably, the ultimate purpose of American national power was never explained.