Style or Substance? Decoding Rubio’s Munich Speech and Implications for the Transatlantic Relationship

(The Soufan Center) At the 2026 Munich Security Conference, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a deliberately calibrated address that marked a clear tonal shift from the U.S. message articulated the previous year by Vice President JD Vance. A consistent and predictable U.S. foreign policy is essential to maintaining robust alliances and, short of that, Washington’s relationship with its allies suffers, and America’s adversaries are emboldened. The transatlantic relationship is navigating one of its most complex and demanding phases in recent memory. The coming years will determine whether this moment marks a durable reset — or merely a pause in a deeper structural recalibration of the Western alliance system. – Style or Substance? Decoding Rubio’s Munich Speech and Implications for the Transatlantic Relationship – The Soufan Center