Rubio will be Trump’s third Secretary of State.

With this one, it’s clear that we’re on the cusp of a genuine rethinking of U.S. foreign policy after the end of the post–Cold War liberalism.

“This wasn’t just a fantasy,” he said. “It was a dangerous delusion.”🎯

Mainstream commentators at the NYT concluded that “Mr. Rubio struck a decidedly moderate and mainstream tone unlikely to alarm the foreign policy establishment.” But if his opening statement didn’t ruffle feathers, it’s only because everyone can now see that the “liberal world order” is in tatters, and a new emphasis on national sovereignty is coming into view. During his tenure in the Senate, Rubio has been the foremost advocate of using the tools of industrial policy in the national interest to reclaim essential parts of the military and industrial supply chain that had been recklessly outsourced during the heyday of globalization. His tenure is thus likely to mark a development among Trump’s secretaries of state, as he’s bringing with him some of the key intellectual and policy tools that are necessary for the U.S. on a political and a geopolitical level.

Rubio’s viewpoint is significant because it confirms that reindustrialization will have to be an important part of how the U.S. manages its strategic competitions. It’s now widely acknowledge that the Ukraine war exposed some weaknesses in that area (e.g. below), and it’s logical that the Trump administration would seek to resolve those.

When it comes to how Rubio perceives the U.S. competition with China, highlighting the industrial competition is also significant. Reindustrialization is easier said than done than done, but if it isn’t mentioned, then it’s all too easy to revert to viewing competition primarily in military terms. ig.ft.com/us-defence-ind…

David Pressman’s departure from Budapest today—reprising his provocations on the way out—doesn’t just portend a new dawn in Hungary-US relations.

It marks a key moment in showing that the whole “aircraft carrier” of liberal foreign policy has run aground.

A few thoughts🧵 Pressman was a particularly extreme version of the foreign policy built in the wake of America’s victory in the Cold War. Seeking a reason for the West’s victory, the Clinton-era State Department (which he joined) settled on a kind of new mission: to spread liberal values to the four corners of the globe, as the essence of “alliance” with the United States.