Rubio’s Remarkable Speech At Pnyx Opens the Way For Fundamental Changes

EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis). Secretary Rubio delivered a truly remarkable speech at Pnyx, the birthplace of democracy and the heart of ancient Athens. In parts of the speech where Marco Rubio referred to the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire and America’s support for the Greek uprising, you would think you were at a celebration of Greek Independence Day!!

Helleniscope is particularly satisfied that Mr. Rubio put the revival of Ecumenical Hellenic Culture back at the center as the Foundational principles of Western civilization.  We have proposed this essential idea countless times in the last 6-7 years, against the miserable backdrop of a declining, woke, and decadent West. 

Now we expect to put these declarations into practice.  Will America recognize and support Greece as it declares a 12-mile territorial water zone (which will instantly solve all disputes between Turkey and Greece)? Will it support Greece as it delineates its EEZ and unites it with the Cyprus EEZ? Will it prioritize the exploration of Greek hydrocarbons?

BELOW ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS FOLLOWED BY THE VIDEO AND THE FULL TRANSCRIPT – THE TERM “MUST WATCH” IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH IN THIS CASE.

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TRANSCRIPT OF SECRETARY MARCO RUBIO’S SPEECH IN ATHENS.

ARE GREAT RUINS ALL ACROSS THE WORLD. IN MANY CASES, THERE ARE PLACES WHERE HISTORY SEEMS TO HAVE EXHAUSTED ITSELF, REMNANTS OF DISTANT CULTURES THAT HAVE LONG PAST BEYOND LIVING MEMORY. BUT THE ACROPOLIS IS DIFFERENT. FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, THE CIVILIZATION THAT BUILT AND WOULD STAND BEHIND ME HAS CAPTIVATED THE IMAGINATION OF THE WESTERN WORLD. GENERATIONS OF OUR STATES, ARTISTS, PHILOSOPHERS, HAVE LOOKED TO IT WITH WONDER AND THEY LOOK TO IT WITH AWE. TIME HAS A TENDENCY TO DULL THE SENSES. GREAT VICTORIES AND CATASTROPHIC DEFEATS, THEY SEEM TO SHRINK TO BECOME LIKE A FOOTNOTE IN A TEXTBOOK. ANOTHER FACT FOR OUR SCHOOLCHILDREN TO MEMORIZE AND FORGET. BUT THE GREEKS OF ANTIQUITY, THEY SEEM TO HAVE AN ALMOST MYSTICAL HOLD ON OUR MEMORY. THEY CALL US BACK TO THEM AGAIN AND AGAIN. 480 YEARS BEFORE CHRIST, THE ARMIES OF XERXES ARRIVED IN THE CITY, AND THEY PUT SANCTUARY TO THE TORCH. MOST OPINIONS HAVE BEEN EVACUATED TO A SHIP TO A NEARBY ISLAND. THERE WAS A HANDFUL OF THE NET REFUSED TO LEAVE THEIR HOME. INSTEAD, THEY BARRICADED THEMSELVES IN THE ACROPOLIS TO FIGHT AN EXTRAORDINARY LAST STAND, HEAVING MASSIVE STONES DOWN THE CLIFFS ONTO THE PERSIAN INVADERS AND HOLDING THE GREATEST EMPIRE OF THAT AGE AT T BAY FOUR DAYS. THEY WERE EVENTUALLY OVERWHELMED. THE PERSIANS PLUNDERED TEMPLES, BURNED SHRINES, RAZED THE ACROPOLIS TO THE GROUND. BUT WHEN THE ATHENIANS RETURNED, THEY GATHER THE BROKEN REMAINS OF THE OLD ACROPOLIS AND BURIED THEM IN THE HILL WHERE IT STOOD, AND DECADES LATER UNDER PERICLES, THE RAZED THE PARTHENON. FOR 25 CENTURIES SINCE, THE PARTHENON HAS STOOD. EMPIRES HAVE RISEN AND FALLEN BELIEVE IT’S SHALLOW. AND THE PROGENY OF THE MEN WHO BUILT IT, THE SONS OF ATHENS AND ROME HAVE CARRIED THEIR CIVILIZATION WITHIN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. TWO AND A HALF CENTURIES AFTER THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC, HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD FROM WHERE I STAND NOW, I STAND HERE TODAY AS THE SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE REPUBLIC, AND AS THE GREAT-GRANDSON OF SETTLERS WHO ARRIVED IN THE NEW WORLD FROM SPAIN, I STAND HERE TO TESTIFY TO A DEBT THAT NO LAPSE OF TIME, NO DISTANCE OFPACE CANVER EXTINGUISH. THE HISTORY OF AMERICA, THE HISTORY OF MY COUNTRY, IS COVERED WITH THE FINGERPRINTS OF ANTIQUITY. GREECE IS LITERALLY CARVED INTO THE ARCHITECTURE OF OUR GOVERNMENT AND THE TOWERING COLUMNS AND THE DOMES AND THE MONUMENTS ACROSS OUR CAPITAL CITY, THE CITY WHERE OUR CONSTITUTION 2AS 2ORN, PHILADELPHIA, IS ITSELF A GREEK NAME. THE MEN WHO FOUNDED MY COUNTRY WERE FASCINATED BY THE HERITAGE WE INHERITED FROM YOURS. THEY WERE EXCEPTIONALLY WELL READ IN HISTORY. VIVIDLY AWARE OF THEIR UNIQUE PLACE IN IT. BUT NO OTHER AGE OF THE PAST HELD THEIR ATTENTION OR IMAGINATION QUITE LIKE THAT OF ANTIQUITY. MANY PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT THE MOST COMMONLY CITED AUTHOR IN THE FEDERALIST PAPERS WAS NOT AN ENLIGHTENMENT LOSS OF HER OR POLITICAL THEORIST. THE MOST COMMONLY CITED AUTHOR IN THE FEDERALIST PAPERS IS PLUTARCH, THE GREEK BIOGRAPHER OF GREECE AND ROME’S GREAT MEN. MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN AND SAID ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF ANCIENT GREECE ON THE IDEAS OF THE AMERICAN FOUNDERS, AND FOR THAT MATTER COME ON ALL OF THE WESTERN PHILOSOPHERS AND STATES THAT PRECEDED THEM. MOST OF US ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE BASIC HISTORY. ATHENS GAVE US DEMOCRACY, PLATO AND ARISTOTLE GAVE US WESTERN PHILOSOPHY. OUR IDEAS OF LAW AND VIRTUE, CITIZENSHIP, REPUBLIC AND GOVERNMENT WERE SHAPED IN THE GREEK CITY STATES. EVEN MUCH OF OUR POLITICAL VOCABULARY, WORDS LIKE DEMOCRACY, TIERNEY, THE WORD POLITICS ITSELF FOUND ITS ORIGINS HERE. ALL OF THAT IS TRUE. BUT THE THINGS THAT WE OWE TO THIS PLACE AS AMERICANS AND AS WESTERNERS ARE ACTUALLY FAR, FAR DEEPER. THESE INSTITUTIONS AND IDEAS WERE THE OUTWARD EXPRESSION OF MORE FUNDAMENTAL QUALITIES WE SEEK IN THE ANCIENT GREEKS. QUALITIES THAT CANNOT BE REDUCED TO ANY PARTICULAR POLITICAL…

THANK YOU. IN ATHENS, WE FOUND THE FIRST FULL REALIZATION OF ALL THE ESSENTIAL TRAITS THAT WOULD COME TO DEFINE THE WEST. HE FEARS AND RELENTLESS AMBITION , DARREN EXPLORATION AND INVENTION. A YEARNING FOR DISCOVERY, FOR ADVENTURE, RISK, AN INSATIABLE CURIOSITY ABOUT THE WORLD AND THE PRINCIPLES BY WHICH IT OPERATES. A HUNGER TO KNOW THE MYSTERIES OF NATURE AND GRASP THE SECRETS OF THE COSMOS. AND IN PATIENTS WITH THE NOTION OF IMPOSSIBILITY, CHAFING AT ALL BOUNDARIES COME AT ALL LIMITS, STRAINING TO PEER INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE UNKNOWN. THESE WERE NOT JUST THE FORMULAS OR PRECINCTS OF A PARTICULAR SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY, THEY WERE THE CHARACTERISTIC OF A PEOPLE EXPRESSED IN THEIR TRADITION, THEIR STORIES, THEIR IMAGINATION, AND THE QUALITIES THEY DEMANDED OF THEIR CITIZENS, AND THE THING THEY LIVED AND FOUGHT AND DIED FOR. TO KNOW THEM, IS TO KNOW OURSELVES. WHAT BLOSSOMED HERE IN THIS PLACE WASHE WESTERN DESIRE TO UNCOVER ALL THAT IGNORANCE, DARKNESS, AND DISTANCE HAD KEPT HIDDEN FROM THE MIND OF MAN. THE GREEKS DID NOT JUST SHAPE HISTORY, THE GREEKS GAVE US HISTORY ITSELF. MUCH OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT MANY ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS COMES ALMOST ENTIRELY FROM THE RECORDS OF GREEK EXPLORERS AND HISTORIANS. EXPLORERS AND HISTORIANS THAT DIDN’T JUST CHRONICLE THE HISTORIES OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE, BUT HE VENTURED OUTWARD TO OBSERVE AND RECORD THE SAGAS FOREIGN PEOPLES AND CULTURES ALL ACROSS THE WORLD. WHERE OTHERS LOOKED INWARD, THE GREEKS WERE THE FIRST TO DIRECT THEIR FOCUS OUTWARD. TO CHASE THAT THE REAL AND GLORY OF SEEING ALL THAT WAS STRANGE AND NEW. IT WAS THE STREET THAT WOULD PUSH THE WEST TO CREATE AND BUILD THINGS THAT OTHERS COULD NOT, MARKING ITSELF FROM SO MANY OTHER CULTURES AND CIVILIZATIONS , WHERE STABILITY AND SUBSISTENCE WERE THE HIGHEST ENDS OF LIFE. BUT IT 2S 2OT 2UST THE AMBITION TO EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN THAT WE INHERIT FROM THE GREEKS, IT IS THE CONVICTION THAT THE UNKNOWN CAN BE KNOWN. THE COMPETENCE OF THE WORLD CAN BE CHARTED AND MEASURED AND MAPPED AND UNDERSTOOD, AND THAT THERE IS A RATIONAL ORDER TO THE COSMOS, GOVERNED BY CERTAIN FUNDAMENTAL LAWS, LAWS THAT MEN CAN OBSERVE AND THE MIND CAN COME TO UNDERSTAND. THIS WAS THE FOUNDATION OF THE WESTERN MIND. OUR MATH, OUR SCIENCE, OUR MEDICINE, OUR PHILOSOPHY, ETHICS, AND RELIGION, IT PAVED THE WAY FOR THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, TO FIND FERTILE SOIL IN EUROPE, AND FLOURISH INTO THE EMPIRE OF CHRISTIAN THEM. IT WAS THE FOUNDATION OF THE RICHEST CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, OF AUGUSTINE AND AQUINAS, AND A WHOLE TRADITION OF NATURAL LAW. IT GAVE BIRTH TO A CIVILIZATION MARKED NOT JUST BY A COMMON CULTURE, IT WAS MARKED BY A COMMON ANTHROPOLOGY, A COMMON VIEW OF MEN AND OF HIS PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE. IT’S DESCENDANTS WHICH ARE NOT JUST THE IDEA OF A NATURAL ORDER BUT A DISTINCTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF VIRTUE, OF DESTINY AND FAITH, OF TRUTH, GOODNESS AND BEAUTY. OF A CODE THAT DICTATES HOW MEN OUGHT TO LIVE. OBJECTIVE STANDARDS AND IDEALS TO STRIVE TOWARD. FOR THE GREEKS OF ANTIQUITY, THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WAS THE VERY PRINCIPLE OF MAN’S EXISTENCE. THEY ORGANIZED ALL OF CIVIC LIFE AROUND CONTEST AND AMBITION, COMPETITION, PHILOSOPHY AND POETRY, SCULPTURE AND DRAMA, ATHLETICS AND ART , ANDWAR AND STATECRAFT. THE CLASSICAL GREEK CITY WAS AN ARENA FOR GREAT MEN TO TEST AND PROVE THEMSELVES, TO HONE THEIR POTENTIAL THROUGH PERPETUAL STRUGGLE. TO BE THE BEST, THE STRONGEST, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL. STRAINING TWO INCH EVER CLOSER TO PERFECTION. I KNOW THAT TO MODERN EARS WHAT I JUST DESCRIBED, THIS WAY OF LIFE MIGHT SOUND ODD OR EVEN CRUEL. THE IDEAL OF MANY IDEOLOGIES IN OUR TIME IS FRANKLY BECOME A WORLD OF PERFECT SAFETY, A WORLD DEVOID OF RISK OR FAILURE, WHERE NEITHER THE GLORY OF VICTORY NOR THE SHAME OF DEFEAT. TOO OFTEN THESE DAYS, WE BUILD IT DOWNWARDS. WE DESIGN OUR STANDARDS TO ENSURE THAT NO ONE WILL LOSE. WE PREOCCUPY OURSELVES MORE WITH THE COMFORT OF THE WORST THAN THE POTENTIAL OF THE BEST. WE HOLD THE MOST EXCEPTIONAL THINGS AMONG US HOSTAGE TO THE AVERAGE, THE ORDINARY, THE MEDIOCRE. THE MEN WHO MADE THE PARTHENON, THEY BUILT UPWARDS. THEY HELD AT THE HIGHEST AND MOST NOBLE ASPIRATION IN LIFE WAS TO SURPASS ALL OTHERS, TO STRIVE TO BE THE BEST IN ALL THINGS. THE ANCIENT GREEK CITY STATES WERE FILLED WITH INTENSE PASSION AND RIVALRY AND AFFECTION AND CONFLICT, BUT FROM THE CONSTANT STRUGGLE FOR DISTINCTION, FROM THAT CAME THE GREAT FLOWERING OF ART AND PHILOSOPHY AND POLITICAL AND INTELLECTUAL ENERGY THAT WOULD TRANSFORM A COLLECTIVE OF MEDITERRANEAN CITIES TO THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE GREATEST CIVILIZATION IN THE WORLD. THE ANCIENT GREEKS CALLED THE FIRE OF PASSION, STRENGTH, COURAGE, PRIDE, THE HEART OF GREAT CIVILIZATION. AND WITHOUT IT, NATIONS LOSE THEIR WILL TO FIGHT, THE WILL TO STRIVE, THE WILL TO SURVIVE. TODAY, TOO MUCH OF THE WEST HAS FORGOTTEN THIS QUALITY. OVER TIME, WE IN THE WEST, 2AME TO 2EEL ASHAMED OF THE VERY THINGS THAT MADE US EXCEPTIONAL. WE FELT EMBARRASSED THAT OUR ACHIEVEMENTS SET US APART FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD. OUR PROSPERITY SOMEHOW BECAME A SOURCE OF GUILT. WE NO LONGER BELIEVE WE DESERVE AND EARNED OUR GREATNESS. THE WORD OF NATIONALISM BECAME A DIRTY WORD, SO WE TORE DOWN OUR MONUMENTS, CONDEMNS OUR OWN HISTORY, AND THAT TOO MANY PLACES, WE TAUGHT OUR CHILDREN TO BE ASHAMED OF THE COUNTRY THEY WOULD INHERIT. IN THE PROCESS, WE OPENED OUR BORDERS AND OUTSOURCED OUR INDUSTRY AND ALLOWED OUR MILITARIES TO WITHER AND DECAY. AND WITH EVERY PASSING YEAR, WE SEEM TO OUTSOURCE MORE OF OUR SOVEREIGNTY, TRANSFERRING OUR DECISION TO GLOBAL BUREAUCRACIES FAR BEYOND THE REACH OF OUR CONTROL. BUT OTHERS WERE ALL TOO HAPPY TO FILL THE VACUUM THAT WAS LEFT. THE VACUUM LEFT BEHIND BY OUR WEAKNESS. AS THE WEST CONFIDENCE FALTERED, ITS ADVERSARIES AND ITS RIVALS ONLY GREW MORE CERTAIN, BUILDING UP THEIR OWN WEALTH AND THEIR OWN POWER IN OUR STEAD. NOW, TODAY, WE FIND OURSELVES AT A CROSSROADS, BECAUSE THE NEXT DECADE AND THE DECISIONS WE MAKE WILL WRITE THE STORY OF THE NEXT CENTURY. THE COURSE WE TAKE WILL DETERMINE WHETHER THE WEST MAINTAINS ITS PLACE AT THE HEAD OF THE WORLD, OR RESIGNED ITSELF TO A FUTURE OF ATROPHY AND SERVITUDE AND DECLINE. WE WILL EITHER CHOOSE TO ACT NOW OR LOSE THE CHOICE TO ACT AT ALL. UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP, THE UNITED STATES HAS MADE ITS CHOICE. WE CHOOSE THE UNAPOLOGETIC PURSUIT OF NATIONAL POWER, TO TAKE BACK CONTROL OF OUR CRITICAL SUPPLY CHAINS, TO WE INDUSTRIALIZE OUR ECONOMY, TO REBUILD OUR DEFENSE, TO FIGHT FOR DOMINANCE OF THE TECHNOLOGIES AND INDUSTRIES OF THE FUTURE. WE CHOOSE TO REACH FOR NEW FRONTIERS AND ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND SUPER INTELLIGENCE, IN GROANS, WEAPONS, WARFARE, IN CHIPS, MINERALS, CYBER, AND EVERY OTHER DOMAIN OF HUMAN POSSIBILITY TO UNLEASH OUR ENERGY, TO REBUILD OUR FACTORIES, TO RETURN OUR ASTRONAUTS TO THE MOON AND LAUNCH A NEW AGE OF EXPLORATION IN SPACE. NOW, FOR ALL OF THEIR LOFTY IDEALS, THE ANCIENT GREEKS WERE NOT NAIVE. THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT NATIONS HAVE INTERESTS. THEY UNDERSTOOD STATECRAFT REQUIRES PRUDENCE AND DIPLOMACY. BUT THEY ALSO UNDERSTOOD THAT IT REQUIRES THE ABILITY TO WIELD FORCE WHEN PRUDENCE AND DIPLOMACY FAIL. THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT POWER REQUIRES NOT ONLY HAVING THE MEANS TO DEFEND YOURSELF, IT REQUIRES THE CREDIBILITY THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO USE IT. THIS IS THE CLASSICAL UNDERSTANDING OF POLITICS AND OF STATECRAFT THAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HOPES TO RECLAIM. RECLAIM NOT JUST FOR OUR COUNTRY, BUT FOR THE WHOLE OF OUR CIVILIZATION. WE BELIEVE THAT EUROPE CAN AWAKEN FROM ITS LONG SLUMBER AND REKINDLE THE FIRE THAT WAS LIT HERE MILLENNIA AGO. THERE ARE ALREADY SIGNS. ACROSS THIS CONTINENT, WE ARE WITNESSING WHAT WE HOPE WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF A GENERATIONAL SHIFT. SKYROCKETING DEFENSE SPENDING, A FLURRY OF NEW PARTNERSHIPS AND PROGRAMS, EXPANDED MANUFACTURING AND PRODUCTION FOLLOWING ON THE HISTORIC DEFENSE COMMITMENTS MADE LAST YEAR IN THE HAGUE. GREECE HAS BEEN AT THE CENTER OF THIS SHIFT. THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION HAVE PROVED THEMSELVES ONCE AGAIN TO BE AN INDISPENSABLE FRIEND TO EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES ALIKE ON EVERYTHING FROM ENERGY TO MIGRATION TO DEFENSE, WHERE GREECE HAS BEEN A MODEL ALLY. IT IS OUR SINCEREST HOPE THAT ALL OF EUROPE WILL FOLLOW YOUR EXAMPLE. THOUGH PASSION MAY AT TIMES HAVE STRAINED THE BONDS OF AFFECTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE, IT MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO BREAK. TOGETHER, WE MUST STRENGTHEN AND ALLIANCE CAPABLE OF CONFRONTING THREATS OF OUR AGE. AND WE CAN. BECAUSE WE DO NOT BELIEVE THE TRANSATLANTIC FRIENDSHIP SHOULD BE ZERO-SUM. QUITE THE OPPOSITE. OUR VISION IS AN ALLIANCE WHOSE STRENGTH IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS. IS A VISION WE SAW IN ACTION JUST LAST MONTH IN AN UNPRECEDENTED NEW AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES, DENMARK, AND GREENLAND, AND AGREEMENT THAT WILL RESHAPE THE ARCTIC AND BOLSTER THE SECURITY OF ALL OF NATO. ALL THREE PARTNERS IN THAT DEAL EMERGED VICTORIOUS. ALL OF EUROPE AND NATO AND THE UNITED STATES EMERGED SAFER, STRONGER, AND MORE SECURE BECAUSE OF IT. WE WANT TO WIN TOGETHER. WE MUST WIN TOGETHER. NOW, IT’S BECOME FASHIONABLE TODAY TO BELIEVE THAT ENLIGHTENED FOREIGN POLICY MEANS PRIORITIZING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY OVER ONE’S OWN PEOPLE. AND I THINK HERE, TOO, WE HAVE MUCH TO LEARN FROM THE MEN OF ANCIENT GREECE. BECAUSE THEY KNEW THERE WAS NOTHING SELFISH OR WRONG ABOUT LOYALTY TO YOUR NATION, NOR ANYTHING SELFISH OR WRONG ABOUT FIGHTING TO DEFEND ITS INTERESTS ABOVE ALL ELSE. THEY BELIEVED FIERCELY IN THE IDEAL OF THE GREAT MAN, THE EXCEPTIONAL INDIVIDUAL WHO OBTAINS IMMORTALITY THROUGH HIS OWN DEEDS. BUT THEY BELIEVE THAT GLORY AND FAME, THOSE THINGS WERE WON THROUGH STRIVING, SACRIFICING, AND ACHIEVING GREATLY FOR SOMETHING LARGER THAN YOURSELF. THE RECURRING HERO OF THE ANCIENT GREEK WORLD WAS THE MAN WHO WAS WILLING TO PAY ANY COST FOR A CAUSE WORTHY OF HIS LOYALTY. WE SEE THIS IN SOCRATES, WHO REFUSED TO ABANDON THE INQUIRY INTO TRUTH, EVEN AT THE COST OF HIS OWN LIFE. WE SEE IT IN THE LEGENDARY STAND OF 300 SPARTANS, SURROUNDED AND HOPELESSLY OUTNUMBERED BY THE VAST ARMIES OF PERSIA, WHO REFUSED THE CHANCE TO SAVE THEMSELVES, CHOOSING TO FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN RATHER THAN ABANDON THEIR POSTS OR ABANDON THEIR DUTY. AND WE SEE IT IN THE EPIC MYTH OF ACHILLES, WHO WAS OFFERED THE CHOICE TO RETURN HOME AND LIVE A LONG AND PEACEFUL LIFE. BUT CHOOSE INSTEAD TO REMAIN AT TROY AN PARISH IN PURSUIT OF ETERNAL GLORY. THESE ARE THE QUALITIES THAT SHAPED THE WESTERN MORAL IMAGINATION. FROM THE CHRISTIAN MARTYR WHO REFUSED TO BETRAY HIS FAITH TO THE PATRIOT WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY. FROM ST. THOMAS MORE TO THE BATTLE OF THE ALAMO, RUNNING THROUGH THE IMMORTAL CLOSING WORDS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES, WHICH SAYS, WE MUTUALLY PLEDGE TO EACH OTHER OUR LIVES, OUR FORTUNES, AND OUR SACRED HONOR. IT IS FROM THE GREEKS THAT THE WEST INHERITED ITS SENSE OF DUTY, AND UNBREAKABLE LOYALTY TO ONE’S CODE, ONE’S CAUSE, ONE’S COUNTRY. OUR HEROES, THE HEROES OF THE WEST ARE THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THEIR DUTY PRECISELY WHEN IT IS MOST DIFFICULT AND PAINFUL TO DO SO. THE MAN WHO IS BOUND BY HIS WORD, THE SOLDIER WHO WILL NOT ABANDON HIS POST, THE PROVERBIAL CAPTAIN WHO GOES DOWN WITH THE SHIP. THIS IS WHOLLY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE SEE EVEN NOW. FOR EXAMPLE, FROM FANATICS LIKE THE RADICAL MULLAHS OF IRAN, WHOSE CULT OF DEBT HALES CHILD SUICIDE BOMBERS AS NATIONAL HEROES AND PORTRAYS MARTYRDOM AS AN END TO ITSELF. OUR HEROES MAY BE WILLING TO DIE FOR THEIR CAUSE, BUT OUR HEROES DO NOT WORSHIP DEBT. IT IS PRECISELY BECAUSE WE VALUE LIFE THAT WE COME TO RECOGNIZE THE HEROISM IN THOSE WHO WOULD SOONER SACRIFICE THAN TO BETRAY THEIR PRINCIPLES. WE TOOK THE WEST CONCEPTION OF THESE 2HINGS, HEROISM, HONOR, DUTY, WE TAKE THESE THINGS FOR GRANTED. WE ASSUME THESE ARE UNIVERSAL TO ALL PEOPLE IN ALL TIMES, AND IN ALL PLACES. THEY ARE NOT. THEY ARE THE PRODUCT OF A DISTINCT CHARACTER, A DISTINCT CHARACTER WHICH AROSE HERE, AND SHOOT THE WHOLE STORY OF THE CIVILIZATION THAT CAME AFTER. THE CIVILIZATION THAT WE MUST FIGHT TO DEFEND TODAY WITH THE SAME PASSION AS OUR FOREFATHERS DID. THE MEN WHO BUILT THE PARTHENON WERE SUCCEEDED BY THE ARCHITECTS OF EUROPEAN CHRISTIANDOM, WHO RAISED THE CATHEDRALS OF MILAN, COLOGNE, FLORENCE. THE QUEST TO PERFECT A HUMAN FORM THAT MOVED THE ANCIENT GREEK SCULPTORS FOUND A NEW EXPRESSION IN MICHELANGELO. THE GREEKS PHILOSOPHERS’ SEARCH FOR THE STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE WAS INHERITED BY COPERNICUS, THEN GALILEO, KEPLER, NEWTON. THE HUNGER FOR NEW KNOWLEDGE, THAT IS WHAT GAVE BIRTH TO MAGELLAN’S FIRST EXPEDITION AROUND THE WORLD, TO COLUMBUS”S DISCOVERY OF THE AMERICAS, AND ULTIMATELY TO APOLLO 11’S JOURNEY TO THE MOON. AND THE QUALITIES THAT LED ALEXANDER TO CONQUER THE ENTIRE KNOWN WORLD REAPPEARED IN CAESAR, CHARLEMAGNE, AND CORTEZ. AND IN AMERICA, THAT SAME TRADITION REDISCOVERS ITSELF AGAIN. AN OPEN AND WILDLAND BECAME THE SITE OF A GREAT REVIVAL OF WESTERN IMAGINATION AND AMBITION. THE GREEK ASPIRATION FOR NEW HORIZONS BECAME THE AMERICAN FRONTIER SPIRIT. THE CIVILIZATION OF ATHENS AND ROME TRANSFORMED AN INFANT SEABOARD REPUBLIC INTO A CONTINENTAL EMPIRE. THE GREATEST AMERICANS OF EVERY GENERATION HAVE CARRIED THE UNMISTAKABLE FEATURES OF THEIR FOREFATHERS. BORN IN ATHENS, FORMED BY ROME, BAPTIZE IN CHRISTIANDOM, PARTED IN THE FURNACE OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE, ENDOWED WITH THE ENGLISH GENIUS FOR LIBERTY, AND CARRIED ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO BE REBORN ON THE SHORES OF A NEW WORLD. TOGETHER WE MUST NOT REDISCOVER THAT SPIRIT. WE ARE AT AN INFLECTION POINT. AN INFLECTION POINT NOT ONLY IN HISTORY OF MIND, BUT IN THE WHOLE OF CIVILIZATION. THE THREATS WE FACE TODAY ARE EVERY BIT AS REAL AS THEY WERE ON THE DRAMATIC STAGE OF ANTIQUITY. NATIONAL INTERESTS DID NOT VANISH IN THE FACE OF INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. WAR DID NOT DISAPPEAR SIMPLY BECAUSE WE PREFERRED PEACE. OTHER STATES CONTINUED TO HARM COME TO SEEK INFLUENCE, TO COMPETE FOR TERRITORY AND TECHNOLOGY AND RESOURCES AND MARKETS AND ENERGY AND POWER. NOW THERE IS MORE AGAIN — WAR AGAIN. THERE IS COMPETITION BETWEEN GREAT POWERS AGAIN. THERE IS VULNERABILITY, AGGRESSION, TERRORISM, A WHOLE UNIVERSE OF NEW THREATS AND ATTACKS AGAIN. SO WE MUST REBUILD OUR INSTITUTIONS AND OUR ALLIANCES TO FACE THESE THREATS TOGETHER, UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PURPOSE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT TO ABOLISH THE SOVEREIGNTY OF A NATION THAT CONSTITUTES THEM, IT IS TO DEFEND THEM. AND THAT NATIONS NEED NOT ABANDON THEIR DISTINCT IDENTITIES IN ORDER TO RECOGNIZE THEIR COMMON INTERESTS. WE HAVE BUILT A MODEL OF THAT WITH OUR PARTNERS HERE IN GREECE. AND OUR DEFENSE PARTNERSHIPS COME IN ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY, OUR SHARED AMBITION TO SECURE EUROPE’S BORDERS FROM THE THREATS OF MASS MIGRATION. OUR FRIENDSHIP DATES BACK TO THE EARLIEST YEARS OF MY NATION. WHEN GREECE AROSE IN 1821, TO RECOVER ITS INDEPENDENCE AFTER CENTURIES OF OTTOMAN RULE, AMERICANS RECOGNIZE SOMETHING FAMILIAR IN THAT STRUGGLE. THREE YEARS LATER, THE GREAT AMERICAN-STATESMAN, DANIEL WEBSTER, DELIVERED A FAMOUS ADDRESS TO CONGRESS, HELPING BRING THE CAUSE OF THE GREEK REVOLUTION BEFORE THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE YOUNG REPRESENTATIVES OF THE YOUNG AMERICAN REPUBLIC. HE BEGAN BY CALLING THEIR ATTENTION TO EVERYTHING AROUND THEM. HE SAID, THIS FREE FORM OF GOVERNMENT, THE POPULAR ASSEMBLY, THIS PRACTICE OF FREE DEBATE AND PUBLIC DISCUSSION, THE CONTEST OF MIND WITH MIND, EVEN THE EDIFICE IN WHICH WE ASSEMBLE THESE PROPORTION COLUMNS ALL REMIND US THAT GREECE HAS EXISTED AND THAT WE, LIKE THE REST OF MANKIND, ARE GREATLY HER DEBTORS. THOSE WORDS ARE AS TRUE TODAY AS THEY WERE WHEN HE SAID THEM. AND ALL OF US, NOT JUST AMERICANS, BUT EUROPEANS AND OUR FRIENDS ACROSS THE WEST MUST RELEARN THE LESSONS OUR FOREFATHERS TOOK FROM THIS PLACE AND FROM ITS HISTORY. THE HISTORY OF GREECE, IT DOES NOT JUST OFFER US A GLIMPSE — DOES NOT OFFER A LIMBS OF OUR INSTITUTIONS AND EARLIEST FORMS, THE HISTORY OF GREECE SHOWS AS AN IMAGE OF OURSELVES. IT SHOWS US OURS IS THE INHERITANCE OF GREAT HEROES AND THAT WE SHOULD BE PROUD, THAT WE SHOULD BE INTENSELY PROUD OF WHERE WE COME FROM. WE SHOULD MARVEL AT WHAT OUR FOREFATHERS CARVED OUT OF THIS COUNTRYSIDE, DESTROY OUR CIVILIZATION IS THE GREATEST EVER KNOWN DEMAND — THE STORY OF OUR CIVILIZATION IS THE GREATEST EVER KNOWN TO MAN. IT BEGAN HERE. FROM THEN WE CAN REDISCOVER THE VIRTUES FROM THE COURAGE, AND THE STRENGTH TO CONFRONT THE DANGERS THAT WE FACE IN OUR TIME. THANK YOU.