It's Monday, February 17, 2025. I'm Albert Moller, and this is the briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.

Last Friday, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance addressed the Munich Security Conference.

He did so, creating no small amount of controversy

as he addressed the military, foreign policy, and intelligence establishments gathered there

for this meeting, which goes back to 1963. At one of the hottest moments in the Cold War,

the conference was put together. It was known as the Munich

Conference on Security Policy before simply becoming known as the Munich Security Conference.

Now, the Vice President of the United States offered what amounts to the most complete

programmatic statement he has made since his inauguration to that office. And he represented not only

the United States in a general sense, but quite specifically, he represented the President of

the United States, Donald Trump. Now, President Trump has sent his own warning signals. He has been a

disruptor on his own in terms of the foreign policy establishment, particularly when looking

at the European consensus, but now the vice president of the United States, J.D. Vance, has

created his own ripples. He has made his own statement. Addressing the security conference,

the vice president said this, quote, we gather at this conference, of course, to discuss security.

And normally we mean threats to our external security. I see many, many great military leaders

gathered here today, said the VP. But while the Trump administration is very concerned with

European security and believes that we can come to a reasonable settlement between Russia and Ukraine, and we also

believe that it's important in the coming years for Europe to step up in a big way to provide for

its own defense. The threat that I worry the most about, said the vice president, vis-a-vis Europe,

is not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor. He went on to say, quote, what I worry

about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values,

...