Munich Security Conference

Munich report exposes US “destruction policy”

The world order is under severe pressure and the role of the US is creating growing uncertainty. That is the main message of a recent report from the organizers of the Munich Security Conference.

“The most powerful actor in dismantling existing rules and institutions is US President Donald Trump,” the report states, warning of the president’s “wrecking-ball politics,” a kind of conscious “destruction policy” that is tearing apart the existing order.

It also states that for most people in Europe, the US “is no longer recognizable” and that many are following developments with “growing concern or even horror.”

“Trust has clearly been damaged. Just think of Greenland,” says Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the security conference, to Deutsche Welle. 

Munich is approaching: “A year since the US turned the world order upside down”

A year ago, US Vice President JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference dropped like a bombshell, including statements that the threats to Europe come from within.

The conference will resume on Friday and over the past year the White House has “turned the world order upside down”, writes the BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner. The ultimate question is whether NATO’s Article Five still applies, meaning that an attack on one ally is considered an attack on all.

“This week’s Munich Security Conference is expected to provide an indication of where the transatlantic alliance is headed. But the answers are not necessarily what Europe wants to hear,” writes Gardner.

A report prepared for this year’s security conference describes how Europe must become tougher and more militarily independent. The Guardian’s diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour calls it a “painful conclusion”. 

US sends Rubio to Munich Security Conference

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the US delegation to the upcoming Munich Security Conference, AFP reports.

The leaders of over 60 nations and more than 100 foreign and defense ministers are expected to attend the meeting, which will take place from February 13-15.

During last year's conference, US Vice President JD Vance shocked the world when he said, among other things, that the greatest threat to Europe comes from within.