For subscribers
An iron fist in a velvet glove: Rubio’s message on US-Europe ties
Despite the softer tone of his Munich speech, the harsh reality for Europe is that it has become a tiresome burden for the US and has very limited strategic options.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s softer tone at the Munich Security Conference belies the hard realities in the US’ attitude towards its European allies, says the writer.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Henry Kissinger, the late US secretary of state, once reportedly remarked that “to be an enemy of America would be dangerous, to be a friend would be fatal”.
That observation, while made in the context of America’s allies in the Vietnam War, has gained fresh resonance at the recently concluded Munich Security Conference, where current Secretary of State Marco Rubio artfully delivered a message that was, to all intents and purposes, an iron fist in a velvet glove.
