For the head of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, this year’s conference was the most important he has ever organized. At least that’s what he said at the beginning of the conference in the Bavarian state capital. This was probably also due to the fact that this year’s conference was the last one he chaired. Next year, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s former security adviser, Christoph Heusgen, will take over. Maybe things will then run in calmer waters again, maybe not.
The 2022 conference will remain a remarkable one for many reasons. It is the first to take place again, at least in hybrid form, after the pandemic-related shift to the internet. The political guests arrived, the majority of the journalists could only connect online, which unfortunately didn’t always work out. More important than that, however, was the lack of a delegation, which has always been present in recent years. This time, however, the Russians had canceled completely.
So the West largely kept to itself – the heads of government and ministers reassured each other once again that they would stand shoulder to shoulder against Russia’s alleged war plans. Rationaries about Putin’s presumed intentions, both short-term and medium-term, formed the common thread of the meeting, appropriately titled “Unlearning Helplessness.”
As critical as the comments made about Chancellor Olaf Scholz in recent weeks have been: After the past three days, one has to state again that the SPD politician can also speak plain language. You should only address him in English, then many cloudy language structures will fall away. That alone can serve as an argument for continuing the international conference next year. Then maybe with more critical journalists on site.