In a world of shifting alliances and collapsing ideological certainties, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has emerged as a clear and unapologetic voice defending Western civilization’s core values—tradition, sovereignty, and democracy. During a recent interview with Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt, as well as in speeches like his much-discussed appearance at the Munich Security Conference in February, Vance laid bare what he views as the true existential crisis facing Europe. And it’s not Russia. It’s not China. It’s EU itself.
“The greatest threat to Europe is not China or Russia. The greatest threat to Europe is from within,” Vance declared. “It’s migration policies that destroy the fundamental cultural bedrock of Europe. It’s economic policies that make them less competitive.”
This is more than just sharp rhetoric. It’s a wake-up call—a signal that the world’s cultural and ideological tectonic plates are shifting. And America, under leaders like Vance, is signaling it will not follow the European Union down the rabbit hole of self-destruction.
EU’s Internal Collapse
For decades, the European Union has pursued a left-liberal utopia rooted in open borders, progressive social engineering, and a technocratic elite that treats its citizens not as sovereign individuals, but as pawns in an ideological experiment. In Vance’s view, and increasingly in the view of many in the U.S. and across Europe, this is not democracy—it’s soft tyranny dressed up in rainbow flags and climate pledges.
“They start trying to throw presidential candidates and political leaders off the ballot,” Vance warned. “That’s not democracy.”
He was referring to the EU’s continued attacks on conservative leaders, such as Marine Le Pen in France. Le Pen, who is leading in polls ahead of the next French presidential election, now faces prosecution over minor allegations tied not even to her actions but to her staff. The message from Brussels is clear: vote how we like, or we’ll eliminate your choices altogether.
This trend is not isolated. Whether it’s Poland and Hungary being penalized for refusing mass migration, or Giorgia Meloni in Italy being targeted for daring to prioritize Italian families, or the newest case in Romania the EU has become a bureaucracy increasingly hostile to dissent.
And yet it is the same EU leadership that accuses others—especially conservatives—of being authoritarian.
The Woke West’s Hypocrisy
Vance was unflinching in his critique of EU’s hypocrisy when it comes to defense and foreign policy. While claiming Russia is the greatest threat to the continent, EU governments continue to import Russian gas, refusing to wean themselves off a system they claim is fueling “aggression”.
“They say that Russia is the biggest threat in the entire world,” Vance said. “Meanwhile, they buy billions and billions of dollars of Russian gas, and they spend 1% of their GDP on defense, while we’re spending three or four percent of our GDP.”
That burden has long fallen on the shoulders of American taxpayers, even as EU leaders lecture Washington on morality. For Vance—and a growing portion of the American electorate—this arrangement is no longer tenable.
But more importantly, Vance understands that defending the West is about more than military budgets. It’s about values. And here lies the true schism.
The Battle for Western Values
What Vance highlighted in both his Newsmax interview and at the Munich Security Conference is that the Atlantic alliance can only endure if it is rooted in shared civilizational values. Increasingly, it is not.
EU has embraced what critics call “woke capitalism” and “woke governance”—a combination of elite-driven technocracy and identity politics that sees national traditions as problems to be solved, not foundations to be preserved. The EU’s obsession with climate orthodoxy, gender ideology, and unchecked migration is not only alienating its own citizens—it is dismantling the very cultural framework that made Europe Europe.
“We want our friends to share our values,” Vance said. “And the Europeans, they are absolutely 100% our friends. But… the relationship is gonna get stressed and tested if they keep trying to throw opposition leaders in jail and they stop respecting their own borders.”
These are not fringe views. Across Europe, traditionalists and conservatives are winning elections. In countries like Hungary and Slovakia, voters are rejecting the EU’s open-border mandates and reasserting national identity. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders has become the leading political voice. In Germany, the AfD is surging despite every effort by the establishment to silence it.
The people are pushing back. And in Vance, they see an American leader who gets it.
The American Model Reasserts Itself
What’s emerging from this geopolitical moment is not the end of the transatlantic alliance, but a chance for renewal—on different terms. America is no longer willing to play the silent partner to EU’s ideological crusades. Under leaders like J.D. Vance, the U.S. is signaling that its support is contingent not just on shared interests, but shared truths.
These truths are simple, yet powerful: that borders matter, that democracy means respecting dissent, that cultural heritage is not racism and families and faith are the building blocks of civilization.
This is not a call for isolationism—it is a call for realism. As Vance said in Munich, “America will do everything in its power to achieve a reasonable settlement in Ukraine,” but EU must take responsibility for its own security, its own people, and its own future.
The Realignment of Civilizations
We are witnessing not just a political debate, but a civilizational realignment. The 20th-century consensus—liberal internationalism, economic globalization, technocratic governance—is crumbling. In its place, a new values-driven coalition is emerging, grounded in faith, family, freedom, and national sovereignty.
J.D. Vance is at the forefront of this movement. His warnings are not merely political—they are moral and cultural. He is challenging Europe to remember what made it great, and to stop surrendering to elites who see their own citizens as obstacles to progress.
As he put it plainly: “We can’t defend a civilization that no longer believes in itself.”
A Time for Choosing
The world is changing. The old rules no longer apply. The EU can continue down its path of self-inflicted decay, or it can rediscover the principles that built Western civilization. America, under new leadership, is choosing tradition, truth, and toughness.
Europe must decide whether it will walk withits roots—or continue to drift into irrelevance, consumed by the very ideologies it once fought to defeat.
J.D. Vance’s message is clear: The real threat to Europe is not tanks from Moscow. It’s bureaucrats in Brussels who no longer believe in Europe.
And he’s not wrong.
