What is Munich Security Conference, called the Davos of Defence?

The Munich Global Security Conference (MSC) is set to kick off today. The summit, which is being held in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict, will be attended by top world leaders included German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US vice-president Kamala Harris, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Israel’s president Isaac Herzog and Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. But what do we know about the conference? And why does it matter? Let’s take a closer look: What it it? The Munich Security Conference website describes the event as “the world’s leading forum for debating international security policy.” The conference sees over 450 people including heads of state, ministers, leading personalities of international and non-governmental organisations, high-ranking representatives from business, the media, academia, civil society and thought leaders come together to discuss pressing issues of international security policy. It is a venue for diplomatic initiatives to address the world’s most pressing security concerns. This year is the 60th edition of the conference. The conference will begin today at Munich’s Hotel Bayerischer Hof and conclude on Sunday.

The conference was founded in 1963 by Ewald von Kleist at the height of the Cold War.

Kleist, a prolific author, jurist, and publisher, was an expert on the part nuclear weapons played in NATO’s defences and Europe’s stance on in the transatlantic partnership, The aim of the Internationale Wehrkunde-Begegnung as it was then called, was to make up for a “lack of experts on nuclear matters” and increase German lawmakers’ understanding of US security policy. The early editions of the conference saw just a few dozen people, mostly from Germany, the United States and other NATO members, participate. As per Financial Times, officials at the time “came together to display a united front in their struggle with Soviet communism.” After the Cold War came to a close, Kleist and his successor Horst Teltschik invited leaders from Central and Eastern European countries as well as Russia to join the conference, as per the website. Today, leaders from China, Brazil, and India also attend. [caption id=“attachment_13735222” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The conference was founded in 1963 by Ewald von Kleist at the height of the Cold War. image courtesy: securityconference.org[/caption] As per SCMP, the conference is also known as the ‘Davos for defence.’ The conference can, at times, give rise to controversy. According to the GZeroMedia website, Putin 2007 slammed the US for “hyper-use of force in international affairs.” Meanwhile, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu showed off what he claimed was part of a downed Iranian drone. Tehran responded by calling it a “cartoonish circus.” According to Indian Express, billionaire George Soros in 2023 claimed that Hindenburg Research’s allegations against the Adani Group could damage investor confidence in India. Soros also claimed it could hurt Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. It has only been called off twice in history – during the Gulf War in 1991 and the retirement of Kleist in 1997. Why does it matter? A number of big issues are set to be discussed this year. As per The Record, those organising the conference usually publish a report at the outset to set the agenda.

The 2024 report is entitled Lose-Lose?

It cautions against “dynamics that are spurred if ever more governments prioritize relative payoffs rather than engage in positive-sum cooperation and invest in an international order.” The conference also takes place as the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in which more than 28,000 Palestinians and about 1,430 Israelis have been killed, enters its fifth month with no end in sight. It also takes place shortly before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its third year. Both wars have ignited fears that will likely be addressed at Munich about possible regional spillover. “The world has become more dangerous,” Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of the NATO Western defence alliance told Reuters on Wednesday. British foreign secretary David Cameron said officials from European countries that help to fund the occupied Palestinian territories and key Arab and Gulf states would meet on the sidelines of the Munich event to start discussing the future for Israel and the Palestinian people after a potential ceasefire. [caption id=“attachment_13734342” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Palestinian children wounded in an Israeli strike receive treatment at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters File[/caption] US secretary of state Antony Blinken is also expected to join. “There are lots of things we need to start talking about now,” Cameron said in remarks to Britain’s House of Lords. “Whether it’s about this question of how you offer a political horizon to people in the Palestinian territories, or indeed, how we deal with Israel’s very real security concerns.” Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz said he would set foot on German soil for the first time to give a keynote speech at the conference, after refraining from doing so as he grew up in a family of Holocaust survivors. ““I will do everything for Israel’s security, securing our future and returning the hostages,” he said. Although participants including Harris and Blinken are expected to laud American leadership, the conference will hear questions over unprecedented challenges to global rules and regulations that it has championed during its 60-year existence. Zelenskyy is expected to plead for more support for Ukraine as the US House of Representatives stalls a multi-billion dollar military aid package for the country. “The stakes couldn’t be higher,” said one senior State Department official, saying the delay was already being felt on the battlefield. “Our support is absolutely essential in achieving the objectives Ukraine has.” European and US officials are increasingly warning of the risk Russian president Vladimir Putin could attack other countries if his military operation in Ukraine is successful.

“It is clear Putin will not stop at Ukraine,” a second US state department official said.

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No Russian officials were invited to the MSC, for the second year in a row, as they did not seem interested in meaningful dialogue, organisers said. The event comes as the US commitment to defending its allies more broadly is in doubt as the prospect of a re-election of former president Donald Trump looms. Such worries have re-ignited a push in Europe for more strategic autonomy. Until recently the idea was championed by only a handful of countries, in particular France, but is gaining traction and will likely be addressed at the security gathering. Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, suggested last Saturday he would not defend NATO allies who failed to spend enough on defence, prompting consternation in Europe. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz assailed Trump’s comments. He said “any relativisation of NATO’s support guarantee is irresponsible and dangerous, and is in the interest of Russia alone” and said “no one can play, or ‘deal,’ with Europe’s security.” [caption id=“attachment_13734732” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Former US president Donald Trump said he would encourage Russia to attack NATO members if they didn’t pay up. Reuters[/caption] Stoltenberg said comments such as Trump’s call into question the credibility of NATO’s collective security commitment — Article 5 of the organization’s founding treaty, which says that an attack on any member country will be met with a response from all of them. “The whole idea of NATO is that an attack on one ally will trigger a response from the whole alliance and as long as we stand behind that message together, we prevent any military attack on any ally,” he said. “Any suggestion that we are not standing up for each other, that we are not going to protect each other, that does undermine the security of all of us.” Harris is scheduled on Friday to deliver what aides have billed as a major speech on “the importance of fulfilling the US role of global leadership” before meeting with US lawmakers, Zelenskyy and Scholz. Harris is also likely to be closely watched for her ability to lead after a Department of Justice special counsel report last week described US president Joe Biden, 81, as an elderly man with a “poor memory.”

Trump himself is no spring chicken at 77.

Other big international issues will also feature at the conference, such as conflicts in the Horn of Africa increasing food insecurity and displacing millions, and relations between the West and China. Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi will also attend the conference. As per SCMP, Wang will give a speech highlighting “China’s propositions on building a community with a shared future for mankind and advocating an equal and orderly multipolar world.”

“At present, major changes in the world are accelerating and the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

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What do experts say? A piece in The Record noted that the outcome of the discussions can be difficult to evaluate in the absence of a communiqué or a summarising declaration. “It is unlikely that any attendees will walk away from the event with a new direction in mind for their countries, but just because the impact isn’t measurable, that doesn’t mean the dialogue itself is worthless,” the piece noted.

Benjamin Barton, associate professor at the University of Nottingham’s Malaysia campus, told SCMP Wang’s attendance is an indication that Beijing is realising it cannot “ostracise itself from the West”.

“I would imagine that many of the discussions that will take place between Wang Yi and his Western counterparts will focus on forging ahead with this desire to rekindle the relationship with an eye on the bigger picture of the world’s current security dilemmas,” Barton told the newspaper.

“The aim would appear to be to get to the point where both sides are seeking to advance a common perception of how to move forward towards maintaining global stability at a time when different interlinked conflicts are unfolding simultaneously.”