Rubio, in Greece, set to call for the West to restore founding democratic principles

ATHENS -- Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to call for the nations of the West to return to their civilizational roots and restore the values that drove the rise of Europe and North America to global dominance for centuries.In Athens to discuss deepening economic, energy and security cooperation with Greece, Rubio will deliver a speech later Wednesday near the ruins of the Acropolis, a widely recognizable symbol of the city's ancient civilization associated with the creation of popular participatory government and the social contract.The State Department, which is billing the speech as a major address on democracy and its future, says Rubio will “call upon Americans and Europeans alike to join together in a great renewal of the Western spirit — an inheritance stretching from Athens and Rome to Christendom to the founding of the American Republic.”Rubio is seen by many as the gentle face of the Trump administration and has been frequently dispatched to clarify or otherwise address concerns about the president’s frequently undiplomatic statements.In some quarters, however, Rubio’s Athens speech may be seen as a follow-on to the blistering address Vice President JD Vance gave at ...