Special Edition of the Munich Security Conference: European Security and Defense

Key Chapter Title List

1. Editor's Note
2. The Role of the Transatlantic Platform is More Important Than Ever: An Interview with Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference
3. South America – A Pawn of Superpowers?
4. Syria: On the Path to Uncertainty
5. The Abraham Accords: A U.S. Perspective
6. U.S.-Israel Relations
7. In Search of a New Security Architecture in Europe
8. Trump's Foreign Policy
9. U.S. Security Strategy and Its Impact on Europe
10. The Total Defense System: An Interview with Dr. Pål Jonson, Swedish Minister of Defence
11. Can French and German Security Expectations Be Harmonized?
12. Russia and Its Ambitions
13. Tango Takes Two: Prospects for Resolving the Ukraine War After the Paris Declaration
14. Russia's Defense Industry
15. German Security and Defense Industry as the Core of National Resilience and Deterrence!
16. Upgrading the German Security and Defense Industry
17. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the 21st Century
18. The Transatlantic Nuclear Debate
19. Hope or Chaos in the Near East? People's Desire for Peace and Solutions After 16 Months of War
20. U.S. Army Transformation Plan: Goals and Current Status
21. Involved in Over 150 Port Projects: China is a Global Port Power
22. Post-Consensus Attitudes Towards Defense and Security Within NATO
23. The Death of Democracy
24. Dialogue with Emre Akin: Interview with the European COO of Nuroll Makina Sanayi
25. Germany's Operational Plan After Two Years of Building National Defense Capabilities
26. The Sun Also Rises: Political Action in the 21st Century Must Be Based on Reality
27. Africa: Stepping Onto the World Stage?
28. Masthead Information

File Introduction

This report is a special issue published by the European Security and Defence magazine for the 2026 Munich Security Conference (MSC), aiming to provide in-depth background and analytical material for this high-level international security dialogue. Compiled in early 2026, its content is based on the rapidly evolving geopolitical realities of that time, with core concerns focusing on the stability of the transatlantic alliance, the crisis in European security architecture, and the multipolar reshaping of the global power landscape. The editor-in-chief points out in the opening that a series of dramatic events at the beginning of the year, such as the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Maduro, controversies surrounding Greenland's security status, and U.S. economic threats towards allies, have posed severe challenges to the rules-based international order and triggered profound strategic debates within the Western alliance.

The report's structure encompasses a broad examination of key global regions and issues. Among these, transatlantic relations are the consistent main thread. Through an interview with Ambassador Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, the report delves into the alliance's internal resilience regarding burden-sharing, strategic consistency towards Russia, and changes in the U.S. political climate. Multiple feature articles analyze adjustments in U.S. security strategy (including its contradictory potential role as a mediator between NATO and Russia), the potential impact of a second-term Trump foreign policy, and the pressures and opportunities this creates for European strategic autonomy. The report also focuses on defense efforts within Europe, including Sweden's total defense system, Franco-German security policy coordination, the upgrading of the German defense industry and its role as a pillar of national resilience, as well as the urgent need to construct a new European security architecture against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

At the regional study level, the report provides diverse perspectives. Assessments related to Russia include its long-term strategic ambitions, the current state of its defense industry, and its capacity to sustain the war in Ukraine. The Middle East section focuses on the uncertainty in Syria, the U.S. logic behind the Abraham Accords, and the prospects for humanitarian and political solutions after prolonged conflict. The report also turns its gaze to the Global South, analyzing South America's role in great power competition, Africa's rising international status, and the importance of India as a strategic and economic partner for Europe. Particularly noteworthy is the report's professional examination of China's phenomenon of expanding influence through infrastructure projects as a global port power, discussed within the framework of supply chain security and geo-economic competition.

This special issue utilizes a variety of formats including authoritative interviews, policy analysis, case studies, and column commentaries. Contributors include former diplomats, defense ministers, think tank scholars, and industry leaders. Its content not only reflects the core agenda and urgent challenges in the international security field in early 2026 but also aims to stimulate in-depth, practical discussions among Munich Security Conference participants on how to maintain security, defend democratic values, and reshape effective international cooperation frameworks in an increasingly turbulent and multipolar world. All analyses are based on available information and developments up to the editorial deadline.