The West vs the West at the Munich Security Conference

16 Feb 2026 12:25 PM

EXPERT COMMENT

Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a friendlier tone to European nations, but the elephant in the room – the rupture between the US and its NATO allies – remains, says Bronwen Maddox.

Half the hall in Munich gave US Secretary of State Marco Rubio a standing ovation following his speech – out of relief at his declaration that ‘the fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own’. This at least was not another fight picked by the Trump administration with its NATO allies. 

But there was immediate unease too, at the explicit limits Rubio placed on American support for Europe and Ukraine. And non-European countries were furious at what they saw as a tribute to white European civilization and a call to protect it from the rest of the world. 

Rubio was followed by Wang Yi, Beijing’s top diplomat, who deployed stately phrases to describe China’s rivalry with the US, before erupting into a verbal fusillade against Japan, for its temerity to support Taiwan. 

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer freshened up his ‘friends with all sides’ diplomatic pitch; the US is still ‘an indispensable ally’. But he would now like more trade and defence deals with Europe too. The UK would deploy its carrier strike group to the Arctic soon ‘as part of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security’, he promised his security-minded audience. 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rounded off the morning, reminding his audience that the four-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of his country is fast approaching. He was more overtly appreciative of European contributions to his country’s war effort than at Davos three weeks ago, but just as urgent in calling on the US to send more missile defences and press Russia for concessions.

Click here to continue reading the full version of this Expert Comment on the Chatham House website.