Whoa, Nelly! Starting with the Munich Security Conference this past February, Vice President Vance outlined a bracing critique of the emerging political cultures in America’s European allies. As of this posting, US-Europe relations have been on one crazy rollercoaster, careening from Vance’s speech to a two-week whirlwind of Ukrainian diplomacy that culminated in the now mythical dust up in the Oval Office that had critics of the Trump administration wringing their hands over the future of the transatlantic alliance.
What is this new dispensation of US diplomacy we seem to be living in? Dr. Matt Van Hook returns to the podcast today to unpack the speech that started it all, VP Vance’s broadside at the Munich Security Conference. Matt and I walk through the speech and its main themes, locate it in the broader context of public diplomacy and (Vice) Presidential rhetoric, and consider whether or not the transatlantic alliance really is in as much trouble as many seem to think.
NOTE: This was recorded two days before that Oval Office row, so if you’re wondering why we don’t discuss it, there you go.
Digging deeper
Matt’s last appearance on the podcast to discuss the Gettysburg Address
Episode 61: How isolationist are American conservatives really? An interview with Stephen Mansfield
The last word
[W]hat no democracy, American, German, or European, will survive is telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief are invalid or unworthy of even being considered. Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There’s no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t.
Europeans, the people, have a voice. European leaders have a choice. And my strong belief is that we do not need to be afraid of the future. You can embrace what your people tell you, even when it’s surprising, even when you don’t agree.
And if you do so, you can face the future with certainty and with confidence, knowing that the nation stands behind each of you. And that, to me, is the great magic of democracy. It’s not in these stone buildings or beautiful hotels. It’s not even in the great institutions that we have built together as a shared society. To believe in democracy is to understand that each of our citizens has wisdom and has a voice.
Vice President J.D. Vance, Munich Security Conference, 2025
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