Political Observer.
May 06, 2025
An expert’s point of view on a current event.
Marco Rubio’s Soulless Crusade
The U.S. secretary of state stands for no principle other than serving the man who appointed him.
By Howard W. French, a columnist at Foreign Policy.
Traditionally, secretaries of state have played a role of great prominence in U.S. administrations. Although they are only fourth in the presidential order of succession, these officials often outshine vice presidents. One need only think of examples such as Henry Kissinger, James A. Baker, Hillary Clinton, or John Kerry to recall how influential and vocal public servants in this office can be.
Against this backdrop, current Secretary of State Marco Rubio cuts a particularly disappointing figure. As President Donald Trump’s second term takes on a clear authoritarian bent and disrupts long-standing U.S. relationships, one might have expected Rubio—who has a record of criticizing Trump and his foreign-policy stances—to be one of the rare “adults in the room,” as experienced officials such as John Kelly and James Mattis were called during Trump’s first term. Analysts sometimes credited these figures with slowing the president down through deliberate debate and reining in his impulsive extremes.
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Editor: This was all I could manage to salvage, of this Howard French’s essay, without a payment. Reader consult this issue of Cold War Studies for what the posibilities of what actual thought might offer, instead of Lukewarm Theology!
Fall 2013
FORUM: George F. Kennan and the Cold War: Perspectives on John Gaddis’s Biography:
Editor’s Introduction
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 153–154.
Reflections on George F. Kennan: An American Life
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 155–160.
Abstract
Gaddis, Kennan, and the Cold War: An Assessment of the Biography
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 161–169.
Abstract
Analyzing and Assessing Gaddis’s Kennan Biography: Questionable Interpretations and Unpursued Evidence and Issues
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 170–182.
Abstract
Gaddis’s Achievement: Taking the Measure of Kennan
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 183–188.
Abstract
An Assessment of John Lewis Gaddis’s George F. Kennan: An American Life
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 189–195.
Abstract
Contained? The Religious Life of George F. Kennan and Its Influence
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 196–215.
Abstract
Commentary on John Lewis Gaddis, George F. Kennan: An American Life
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 216–224.
Abstract
George F. Kennan and the Division of Europe
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 225–232.
Abstract
Gaddis’s Kennan: A Different Kennan?
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 233–240.
Abstract
Reply to the Commentaries
Journal of Cold War Studies (2013) 15 (4): 241–245.
Abstract
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