From Rudyard Kipling to Marco Rubio: The civilizing mission

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's speech at the 62nd Munich Security Conference two weeks ago resonated widely in Turkey and the international press. We can anticipate that this speech will continue to be discussed in various contexts going forward. This is because the text contains expressions and concepts that point to the kind of perspective the U.S. holds regarding European countries and the rest of the world. If such speeches are carefully analyzed, it's possible to grasp the deeper meanings within the text. In this article, I will focus on the concept of "civilization" as it appears in Marco Rubio's speech and attempt to analyze the text within this conceptual framework. The term "civilization," which we often translate as "medeniyet," is repeated several times in the text, each time in different contexts and with references to various historical events.

In Marco Rubio's speech, the concept of "civilization" is first used in the context of relations with the Soviet Union, specifically referencing the Cuban Missile Crisis. We can also view this as a brief assessment of the Cold War era. Rubio evaluates the Western world's struggle against the Soviets through the lens of a civilization war. As will be recalled, this period was previously assessed through the lens of an ideological war. After the Soviets collapsed in the 1990s, when Americans spoke of a "clash of civilizations," their target was the Islamic world. This signified a shift from ideological warfare to a war of civilizations. Starting in the 90s, the Islamic world was subjected to very violent attacks for nearly thirty years. The Western world, led by the U.S., willingly took part in this second front, and in the process that began with the attack on Iraq, many countries experienced some of the greatest destructions in their histories. From what we can understand from developments, the U.S. now seems intent on opening a third front, this time centered on China.

At this point, allow me a brief observation about the concept of "civilization," as used in our context. In his book translated into Turkish as Uygarlık Süreci (The Civilizing Process), Norbert Elias notes that unlike "culture," the concept of "civilization" is used in an expansionist sense. Elias compares Germany, England, and France based on the concepts of culture and civilization, stating that the expansionist meaning of "civilization" points to a colonial history. According to him, the English and French have difficulty understanding the German concept of Kultur because the Germans, through this concept, are attempting to define boundaries. Civilization, on the other hand, carries an expansionist meaning. This difference stems from the colonial expansionist history of France and England.

In the 19th century, England and France rapidly brought various parts of the world under their dominion. As is known, the colonization process of North America was also completed in the 19th century. England and France pursued expansionist policies under the banner of a "civilizing mission." This was, without a doubt, an ideological stance, and ideologues like Rudyard Kipling described this stance as the "white man's burden." In this respect, it is very clear that Marco Rubio is speaking of the same "civilization" as Rudyard Kipling. However, we must also identify a significant difference between them.

In the paragraph of Marco Rubio's Munich Security Conference speech where the concept of "civilization" appears, a meaning emerges that is different from both the 19th century and the 1990s. Rubio states, "we must take control of our national borders." Another sentence in this paragraph reads: "Controlling who enters our countries and how many enter is not an expression of xenophobia." Rubio asserts that "this control is a fundamental act of national sovereignty." According to him, if this control cannot be achieved, they will have failed "one of their most basic duties to their people." In his view, this situation represents "an existential threat to the survival of our civilization." It's very clear that Rubio speaks of a new mission in the name of civilization. If this mission is not fulfilled, "the fabric of American and European societies will be eroded." In subsequent paragraphs, he speaks of shaming and deterring "the forces that threaten both America and Europe today and would destroy civilization."

If we proceed from the framework developed by Norbert Elias in his book, we can say that the meaning of the concept of "civilization" in Rubio's speech has moved closer to the German concept of Kultur. The clear emphasis on drawing borders and protecting them—much like the 19th-century German concept of Kultur—is a noteworthy development.