Rubio faces fierce Senate fire over Iran War, Taiwan Arms deal and Cuba policy
Rubio’s testimony, which coincided with a fresh round of Israel-Lebanon political talks at the State Department, offered few definitive answers on several key issues.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Wednesday, May 27, gave a blunt assessment of changing US global strategy and warned that the American foreign policy under President Donald Trump has shifted from alliance-led diplomacy to unilateral power projection.
He said that Washington no longer seeks allied consent before taking major international action and argued the NATO alliance remains strategically indispensable to the United States.
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Speaking at an event in Vilnius, Lithuania, Stubb said the Trump administration had fundamentally changed how America projects power on the world stage. “You go into Venezuela, you don’t ask. You make claims on Greenland, you don’t ask. You go into Iran, you don’t ask,” Stubb said, contrasting the current approach with previous US administrations that sought UN mandates or coalition backing before military action.
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The Finnish President said the United States no longer operates the way it once did under the post-Cold War liberal order. “The Americans don’t ask anymore. So that’s a different way of projecting power,” Stubb said.
Stubb, who spent seven hours playing golf with President Trump earlier this year, described himself as “extremely pro-American,” but said Washington was no longer defending the liberal world order it helped build eight decades ago.
The remarks come amid growing unease among the European capitals over Washington’s growing unilateral posture. Trump’s repeated suggestions that Greenland should become American territory, his deployment of forces near Venezuela, flouting international norms, and the military action in Iran, none of which were coordinated with NATO partners in advance, have deepened concerns about the durability of the transatlantic partnership.
The actions of the United States have devastated economies globally and massively disrupted supply chains and energy markets.
Despite of the fact there exists a turbulence within the alliance, Stubb rejected suggestions that the United States might meaningfully withdraw from NATO, citing hard strategic realities. “Not one nuclear submarine leaves the Kuola Peninsula without the Norwegians knowing about it,” he said, referring to Russia’s nuclear base near Murmansk. “Those weapons are pointed at Washington, D.C., New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.”
He added that US military operations in Iran had already demonstrated Europe’s irreplaceable logistical value. “The United States has absolutely no chance to operate without European bases,” he said.
Despite his criticism, Stubb made clear that Europe still depends heavily on US military strength — especially through NATO.
“NATO is not dead. NATO is alive and kicking”
Stubb noted that NATO defense spending targets had shifted dramatically, from 2 per cent of GDP being considered ambitious just two years ago to 5 per cent now on the table following last year’s Hague summit with Trump.
On tensions over Europe’s role in the Iran campaign, Stubb urged restraint on all sides. “Tone down the language, be a little bit more Finnish, take a sauna, calm down, go golfing, and let’s sort it out,” he said.
Stubb, whose book on global geopolitics has been translated into 21 languages, argued that power is shifting decisively toward the Global South and East, driven by demographic and economic change. Africa’s population, he noted, is projected to rise from one billion to four billion by the end of the century.
Stubb admitted that the traditional Western-led order is weakening as the Global South and emerging powers gain influence.
“We are moving toward disorder”
He warned that the old system dominated by the West is fading fast, adding, “The world order that existed was by the West, for the West, and from the West.”
He said Western institutions had failed to adapt, leaving space for China to build influence across Africa and developing nations without attaching political conditions — a strategy he described as highly effective.
On Russia and Ukraine, Stubb said Europe may need to open its own channels with Moscow, not to legitimize the war but to pursue a solution, adding that Ukraine was currently negotiating “from a position of strength.”
He went on to question the MAGA doctrine under which he feels that one may perceive “America First means: number one, the Western Hemisphere; number two, Indo-Pacific; number three, Europe.”
Speaking about the aggressive rhetoric of Trump, he offered a suggestion of “restraining” that in international diplomacy and relations to resolve disputes and differences.
“Using tough language doesn’t always work. Tone down the language, be a little bit more Finnish, and sort it out,” Stubb said.
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