By Ginika Igboke
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Germany for the Munich Security Conference after telling reporters on Feb. 12 that the global order has fundamentally shifted.
“The world is changing very fast right in front of us,” Rubio said before boarding his flight, in a video posted to X. “The old world is gone, the world I grew up in. We live in a new era in geopolitics, and it’s going to require all of us to sort of re-examine what that looks like and what our role is going to be.”
Rubio’s remarks echo themes raised at the same conference in February 2025 by Vice President JD Vance, who criticized European governments over free speech restrictions and mass migration. Vance said Europe’s greatest danger was “the threat from within,” pointing to what he described as a retreat from shared Western values.
Before departing, Rubio emphasized the deep ties between the United States and Europe. “Most people in this country can trace either their cultural or their personal heritage back to Europe, so we’re deeply tied to Europe and our future,” he said.
German Leaders Cite ‘Alienation’ Within NATO
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul acknowledged growing tensions within NATO, saying some alliance members were unsettled by recent comments from Washington.
“This alliance is also under pressure,” Wadephul told ARD’s Tagesschau. “There is alienation, there is irritation about some of the things we hear from Washington. We need to talk about this here together. We want to define our common denominators and the meaning of NATO.”
Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, said transatlantic ties are facing a serious test.
“Transatlantic relations have been the backbone of this conference since it was founded in 1963. Transatlantic relations are currently in a significant crisis of confidence and credibility,” he said.
Rubio is expected to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the conference.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to address attendees Friday afternoon, followed by a panel discussion on the international order featuring Mike Waltz, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
Rubio also plans to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his two-day visit, which includes stops in Slovakia and Hungary.
When asked about recent Russian bombardments of Ukrainian cities, Rubio said: “It’s terrible. It’s a war. … That’s why wars are bad, and that’s why we have worked so hard for over a year now to try to bring this one to an end.”
NATO Reassesses Strategy
Relations between the United States and other NATO members were strained during a recent dispute over Greenland, which concluded Jan. 21 with President Donald Trump agreeing to a framework aimed at strengthening Arctic security cooperation within the alliance.
At a NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels, U.S. Under Secretary of War Eldridge Colby said the strategic environment that shaped NATO after the Cold War has fundamentally changed.
“The world that shaped the habits, assumptions, and force posture of NATO during the so-called ‘unipolar moment’ following the Cold War no longer exists,” Colby said, speaking on behalf of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
“Power politics has returned, and military force is again being employed at a large scale,” he added.
Colby said the United States is prioritizing homeland defense and its interests in the Western Hemisphere, while recognizing that the Indo-Pacific has become a central arena of geopolitics. He said European nations must now take the lead in fielding the majority of forces needed to deter or defeat conventional aggression on the continent.
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