France, Oct. 7 -- "We are at an inflection point ... not only in the history of my nation but an inflection point in the whole of our civilisation," Rubio said in a speech beneath the Acropolis.

"Either we choose to act now, or lose the choice to act at all," the top US diplomat said.

The United States under President Donald Trump has made its choice, according to Rubio.

"We choose the unapologetic pursuit of national power: to take back control of our critical supply chains, to reindustrialise our economy, to rebuild our defence, to fight for dominance of the technologies and industries of the future," he said.

"There is new competition between great powers again. There is vulnerability, aggression, terrorism, a whole universe of new...