Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared the West is at “an inflection point,” and urged European nations to join with the US in “confronting the threats of our age” during a major speech in Athens Wednesday.
Rubio called on Europe to “awaken from its long slumber and rekindle the fire that was here millennia ago,” in a highly allusive speech that used classical references and American history — whether through “Achilles” or “the Alamo” — to affirm allies’ sovereignty.
“We are at an inflection point, an inflection point not only in the history of my nation, but an inflection point in the whole of our civilization,” Rubio said with a postcard-view of the Acropolis behind him as the sun set. “The threats we face today are every bit as real as they were on the dramatic stage of antiquity.”
“We should marvel at what our forefathers carved out of this countryside,” he continued. “The story of our civilization is the greatest story ever known to man, and it began here with the first men and women of the West.”
“From them … we can rediscover the virtues,” the secretary added. “The courage and the strength to confront the dangers that we face in our time.”
