Munich Security Conference Preparatory Meeting
18 January, 2010
At a preparatory meeting held at the Bavarian embassy in Berlin, German Minister of Defence, Dr. Theodor zu Guttenberg, discussed with US Ambassador Philip D. Murphy and Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, Head of the Munich Security Conference since 2008, the key issues to be tabled at the 46th Munich Security Conference, which will take place on the 5th to 7th February in Munich.
Dr. Guttenberg raised three points: first, that the conflicts of today are asymmetric, second that most challenges have a global dimension and third, that today’s conflicts cannot be solved by military means alone and therefore civilian actors have to be involved.
He stressed that security has more dimensions than ever: security of resources, the lack of emphasis on water resources, the aftermath of the climate change and arms control and disarmament in both the conventional and nuclear field. In discussing Afghanistan, he stressed his hope for a solution during the upcoming conference on Afghanistan in London.
In reply Ambassador Murphy pointed out that Germany is an extremely important partner in Afghanistan as, being responsible for the north, knows best what is necessary there. He stated that he was looking forward to the Munich conference and the debates which it will raise.
Wolfgang Ischinger expected that significant steps could be made towards a new SALT agreement during the conference and agreed that the classic element, the Euro-Atlantic understanding, should be supplemented by dialogs at the global level.
The participants of the preparatory meeting were a ‘who is who’ of the German defence and security community, from parliamentarians to the press and the accredited embassies. The event was covered by live stream in the German TV Channel “Phönix”.
As co-chair of the Parliamentarian Network, I emphasised during the discussion, the importance of conflict prevention and the work of EWI for new security architecture in Europe including Russia and America (Euro-Atlantic-Security: One Vision – Three Paths), which can be found at: http://www.ewi.info/
Ischinger added to my remarks, that this would be an important subject during the Munich Security Conference. It is worthwhile to read his comments on that subject from December 2009 at the following web page:
http://www.securityconference.de/Monthly-Mind-Detail-View.67+M591e231024f.0.html?&L=1
Further information on the Munich Security Conference is available at: www.securityconference.de.
