Announcement
MSC hosts Munich Leaders Meeting in Tokyo (May 14–16, 2023)
From May 14-16 2023, the Munich Security Conference (MSC) will host a Munich Leaders Meeting (MLM) in Tokyo. The event will bring together a selected group of around 60 decision-makers and experts at the highest levels from the host region, Germany, other European countries and beyond.
The MLM in Tokyo
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine represents a Zeitenwende for European security. Long neglected matters of defense have become top priorities for policymakers again. Yet, this strategic awakening will be incomplete if it does not pay attention to revisionist challenges on the other side of the globe. The Indo-Pacific is home to 60% of the global population, generating 60% of global GDP. Rising tensions there will be felt globally. As Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio warned, “Ukraine today might be East Asia tomorrow.”
Japan signaled its readiness to bolster deterrence in the region with plans to increase defense spending and acquire counterstrike missile capabilities. From a US perspective, the Indo-Pacific has become the key strategic theater. Yet, as Russia’s war on Ukraine has painfully demonstrated, European countries still depend on US political leadership and military capabilities for security at home, raising questions of how meaningful Europe can engage in the Indo-Pacific. Given revisionist challengers in both regions, the defenders of a liberal, rules-based international order will need to devise coordinated strategies that account for both theaters.
Against this background and before the G7 Hiroshima Summit, the Munich Leaders Meeting in Tokyo aims to connect European and American leaders with their counterparts in the Indo-Pacific region to discuss ideas on how to contribute to regional and global stability.
Among other topics, the MLM will address burden-sharing between the US, Europe, and their allies in the Indo-Pacific, the Indo-Pacific security architecture, nuclear security, and security in the digital age.
Social Media
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About Munich Leaders Meetings
Munich Leaders Meetings bring together an exclusive group of up to 60 high-level participants to discuss current foreign and security policy challenges with particular emphasis on a specific regional context. Meetings take place once or twice a year in different capitals around the world. With debates being held off-the-record and/or under Chatham House rule with a limited group of participants, Munich Leaders Meetings enable an open and interactive exchange among high-level decision-makers and senior experts from around the globe. At the margins of the MLM, the MSC regularly hosts selected special formats, including Roundtable discussions, to bring together an intimate group for an interactive debate on a specific security policy challenge.
