Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, presides over a State Department amid unresolved crises in Iran, Gaza and Ukraine, with Israel this week rejecting Trump's latest Gaza peace proposal and the Ukraine war entering its fifth year. Rather than pursuing shuttle diplomacy in the mold of predecessors like Hillary Clinton or John Kerry, Rubio has favored what the piece describes as take-it-or-leave-it demands backed by US power, turning countries like Venezuela into client states while threatening others including Cuba.
In a February Munich speech, Rubio warned of European "civilisational erasure" and criticized allies "shackled by guilt and shame" over colonial history, explicitly rejecting the language of traditional alliance diplomacy. He has largely ceded negotiations on Ukraine and Gaza to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and stayed at arm's length from Iran talks, leaving JD Vance exposed politically.
His record shows reversals on China, Russia, foreign aid and the Iran nuclear deal, moves his biographer attributes to a long pattern of political accommodation dating to childhood. Meanwhile Vladimir Putin is described as weaker than at any point since 2022 and Benjamin Netanyahu faces possible electoral defeat in October — circumstances the piece argues create real openings for a negotiated settlement that Rubio has not pursued.
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