BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 14. Western nations
must reclaim control over their industries, rebuild manufacturing
capacity and secure critical supply chains to remain competitive in
the 21st century, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the
Munich Security Conference, Trend reports.


Reflecting on the historical foundations of transatlantic
cooperation, Rubio argued that recent decades were marked by
strategic economic missteps that weakened Western industrial
strength.


He criticized what he described as a “dogmatic vision of free
and unfettered trade,” saying it allowed some countries to protect
their own economies and subsidize domestic industries while
undercutting Western manufacturing.


“In this delusion, we embraced a dogmatic vision of free and
unfettered trade, even as some nations protected their economies
and subsidized their companies to systematically undercut ours,
shuttering our plants, resulting in large parts of our societies
being deindustrialized, shipping millions of working and
middle-class jobs overseas, and handing control of our critical
supply chains to both adversaries and rivals,” Rubio said.


He emphasized the need for a renewed industrial agenda focused
on advanced technologies and strategic autonomy.


“Together, we can reindustrialize our economies and rebuild our
capacity to defend our people,” Rubio stated.


He pointed to commercial space travel, artificial intelligence,
industrial automation, flexible manufacturing and secure supply
chains for critical minerals as key areas for transatlantic
cooperation.







“Together, we can not only take back control of our own
industries and supply chains, we can prosper in the areas that will
define the 21st century,” he said, calling for the creation of
Western supply chains “not vulnerable to extortion from other
powers.”


Rubio also underlined the importance of competitiveness in
emerging markets, including the economies of the Global South, as
part of a broader effort to advance shared economic interests.


He argued that international institutions must be reformed to
better serve the interests of sovereign nations, stressing that
economic resilience and industrial capacity are central to national
security.


“Armies do not fight for abstractions. Armies fight for a
people. Armies fight for a nation. Armies fight for a way of life,”
Rubio said, adding that the West must defend not only its security
but also its economic independence.


Concluding his remarks, Rubio called for a revitalized
transatlantic alliance focused on innovation, industrial renewal
and strategic strength.


“We do not seek to separate, but to revitalize an old friendship
and renew the greatest civilization in human history,” he said.