Munich Security Conference

The conference evolved from the Internationale Wehrkundebegegnung/Münchner Wehrkundetagung, which was founded in 1963 by Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin. The resistance fighter from the Stauffenberg circle hoped to prevent military conflicts such as the Second World War in the future and brought together leaders and experts in security policy for this reason. The first meeting was limited to about 60 participants; among them were Helmut Schmidt and Henry Kissinger. Von Kleist led the meetings until 1998; his successor who led them from 1998 until 2008 was politician and business manager Horst Teltschik (CDU).

In 2008, the former diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger succeeded Teltschik as chairman, an office that he has held since, which coincided with the conference receiving its current name. Ischinger established the Munich Security Conference GmbH non-profit company in 2011, which he has led until Christoph Heusgen took over the position in February 2022. Vice chairman is Dr. Benedikt Franke, who is also CEO.

In October 2024, former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was named as the incoming chairman starting in 2025. He will assume the chair of the MSC once his public duties in Norway have come to an end. Until then, following the MSC Foundation Charter, Wolfgang Ischinger will serve as chairman.

In 2018 the company was subsumed into the MSC Foundation, with an endowment from contributions by the German government and other big donors. Funding has increased from less than €1 million of public funding in 2008 to about €10 million of mostly corporate funding in 2022.

The Munich Security Conference was canceled three times: in 1965 when it was scheduled from the end of the year to the beginning of the following year, in 1991 due to the First Gulf War, and in 1997 as a result of the retirement of von Kleist. Under the leadership of Teltschik the Security Conference opened in 1999 for political, military and business leaders from Central and Eastern Europe as well as India, Japan, South Korea and the People's Republic of China, and now includes leaders of the whole world.

At this conference, under the theme of peace through dialogue, senior politicians, diplomats, military and security experts from the member countries of NATO and the European Union, but also from other countries such as China, India, Iran, Japan, South Korea and Russia are invited to discuss the current issues in security and defense policies.

The intention of the conference is to address the topical main security issues and to debate and analyze the main security challenges in the present and the future in line with the concept of networked security. A focal point of the conference is the discussion and the exchange of views on the development of the transatlantic relations as well as European and global security in the 21st century.

The conference is organized privately and therefore not an official government event. It is used exclusively for discussion; an authorization for binding intergovernmental decisions does not exist. Furthermore, there is - contrary to usual conventions - no common final communiqué. The high-level meeting is also used to discrete background discussions between the participants. An exception is the presentation of global political decisions, such as the exchange of instruments of ratification for the New START disarmament agreement between the United States and Russia, which was held at the conclusion of the security conference in 2011.

At the 39th conference in 2003, German Minister for Foreign Affairs Joschka Fischer doubted the reasoning of the U.S. government for a war against Iraq with the words "Excuse me, I am not convinced".

From 6–8 February 2009, the 45th Munich Security Conference was attended by over 50 ministers and more than a dozen heads of state and government from all over the world, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. US Vice President Joe Biden was also in attendance.

In 2009 the MSC inaugurated the Ewald von Kleist Award. The new award highlights the political life and work of Ewald von Kleist, who founded the Munich Security Conference. The award will be given to prominent individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to peace and conflict resolution. The winners of the Ewald von Kleist Award were in 2009 Dr Henry Kissinger and in 2010 Javier Solana de Madariaga. Also in 2009, the MSC initiated a new event format, called MSC Core Group Meeting. This new and smaller-scale event was introduced in addition to the annual main, Munich-based meeting of the Munich Security Conference. The idea is to invite a number of distinguished and high-ranking participants to changing capitals and give them the opportunity to confidentially discuss current international security policy issues and develop sustainable solutions. Meetings took place 2009 in Washington D.C., 2010 in Moscow and 2011 in Beijing.

The 47th Munich Security Conference was held from 4 to 6 February 2011 and again assembled top-level decision makers from all over the world, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron U.S. …

In addition to the main conference in February, the Munich Security Conference hosts a variety of events and networks.

In addition to the main conference, a series of events, the MSC Munich Leaders Meetings (previously Core Group Meetings), were launched in November 2009 in Washington, DC. The meetings provide a select group of participants the opportunity to discuss key issues of international security policy in order to continue the work of the Security Conference and provide impulses. The location of the Core Group Meetings always varies.

A select group of 30-50 experts, leaders and thinkers who come together in a private setting to develop recommendations on the latest security challenges.

Regular roundtable events take place with varying numbers of participants, both as part of international meetings and events and as independent events, including the European Defense Roundtable series (EDR), launched in 2026. Several roundtables can be organized in the form of a "summit" and individual "conversations" can also be held in virtual form. The thematic focus ranges from European defense policy to cyber security and human security issues.

As a public event series, the European Defense Townhall (EDT) promotes direct dialogue between citizens and stakeholders in European security and defense policy in cities across Europe.

Since 2009, the award has been given to individuals who made a special contribution to peace and conflict resolution. The laureates receive a medal with the inscription "Peace through Dialogue", as John McCain (2018), Alexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev (2019), the United Nations (2020), Angela Merkel (2021), Jens Stoltenberg (2022), Finland and Sweden (2023), Mia Amor Mottley and John F. Kerry (2024), Kaja Kallas (2025), the Ukrainian People (2026).

Beginning in 2019, and alongside the conferences, up to two political science dissertations are being honored that focus on transatlantic relations. The award is given in memory of John McCain together with the partners Munich School of Public Policy, Geschwister-Scholl-Institut, University of the Federal Armed Forces, and the McCain Institute. Among other things, the award grants participation in MSC events and a prize money of up to 10,000 Euros.

Starting with the Munich Security Conference 2023, the Women Parliamentarians Program aims to establish a network to connect the new generation of female decision-makers worldwide. A select group of cross-party elected officials engages in a variety of formats throughout the course of a year in order to generate new ideas in foreign, security, and development policy.

In 2009, the Munich Young Leaders was first launched in cooperation with the Körber Foundation. Held in parallel to the Security Conference, this annual roundtable series is designed to directly involve the next generation of decision-makers into the main conference proceedings. The Roundtable agendas as well as the participants and speakers lists are published online.