Munich Security Report 2018
To the Brink – and Back?
With data, analyses, maps and infographics, the Munich Security Report 2018 provides an overview of the most important security policy issues prior to the 54th Munich Security Conference. It focuses on the crisis of the liberal international order and the repercussions of the first year of Donald Trump's US presidency.
For international security, the year 2017 was marked – among others – by signs of a continued erosion of the so-called liberal international order and an increasingly unpredictable US foreign policy. Tensions in many parts of the world have been growing: the rhetoric between the US and North Korea has escalated, the rift in the Gulf has become deeper, not only between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and major arms control treaties are at stake. In the last year, the world got closer – much too close! – to the brink of significant conflict, and we must do whatever we can to move away from the brink.
It is in this context that the Munich Security Conference Foundation publishes its annual Munich Security Report. Under the heading "To the Brink – and Back?", the Munich Security Report 2018 provides an overview of major security policy issues and features data, analyses, maps and infographics. As a companion and impulse for the 54th edition of the Munich Security Conference, the Munich Security Report serves as background reading for conference participants, but is also made available to the general public. The last report was downloaded close to 30,000 times and received ample press coverage in both German and international media. The discussion on Twitter takes place under #MSCreport.
About the Report
The main topics include the crisis of the liberal international order and the impact of the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency. It also looks at the new momentum in European defense policy and the potential impact of Brexit. In addition, the report analyses regional developments in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It also provides insights into the state of global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation efforts, the issue of environmental and climate security as well as cyber security.
The Munich Security Report features a number of exclusive and unpublished materials. For the preparation of the report, the Munich Security Conference collaborated with renowned partner institutions, including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), McKinsey & Company, the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), Oxford Economics, the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) and the RAND Corporation.
