Towards Mutual Security: From Wehrkunde to the Munich Security Conference

Abstract

Since its inception in the fall of 1963,1 the conference we today call the Munich Security Conference has changed in many ways—not just in terms of its name. Yet in some ways, it has not changed at all. What was the main rationale behind the first conferences remains true today. Munich was, is, and will hopefully continue to be an important independent venue for policymakers and experts for open and constructive discussions about the most pressing security issues of the day—and of the future. These debates take place both on the podium and, crucially, behind the scenes, at the margins of the conference. Since its inaugural meeting under the name of Internationale WehrkundeBegegnung, the conference has built a unique reputation as a not-to-be-missed meeting for the strategic community, particularly for those from NATO member states. As Ivo Daalder, at the time US ambassador to NATO, remarked last year via Twitter, Munich is the “Oscars for security policy wonks.” The Munich Security Conference has attracted many of the West’s leading practitioners and thinkers on security issues. In 2013, more than sixty