Special Issue | MSC 2026

Jörg Lau

How to Talk About European Security in 2026

Discussing European security remains an often complicated undertaking. This guide will help you easily navigate the debates at this year’s MSC.

Wolfgang Ischinger

“We Have to Go Back to the Idea of a Core Europe”

Washington’s behavior on the global stage at the beginning of 2026 has increased doubts about the Trump administration’s reliability, MSC chairman Wolfgang Ischinger warns.

Editorial

Henning Hoff

The Trump Doctrine and Europe

In our special issue for the Munich Security Conference 2026 we focus on how the continent can survive and thrive in the era of the “Trump doctrine.”

Cover Section

Leslie Vinjamuri

The Trump Doctrine

One year into his second administration, the contours of US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy have become clearer.

Anne-Marie Slaughter

Does the Decline of US Soft Power Matter?

While European publics have a very unfavorable view of Trump’s America, the same is not necessarily true of the rest of the world.

James Rogers

Geostrategic Refresh: Europe in a New World

Britain and Germany should forge a military partnership to shape the arc from Greenland to the Black Sea.

Claudia Major

Jana Puglierin

Germany Is the Key to a European Survival Strategy

Europe is ill-prepared for the new age of great power politics. Berlin needs to lead in a participatory and inclusive way.

Patrick Keller

The EU as NATO’s Enabler

Brussels has started contributing considerably to the overall strengthening of what has long been an elusive concept: NATO’s European pillar.

Nico Lange

Deep Strike Is the New Drones

The Europeans lack their own ground-based deep-strike capabilities. These missiles must be produced very quickly and in huge numbers.

Close-Up

Rebecca Christie

Kaja Kallas: The EU’s Tough Talker

The foreign policy chief is speaking bluntly in order to help Europe assert itself in world affairs.

Berlin Cable

Henning Hoff

German Intelligence Toughens Up

Both the foreign and the domestic German secret intelligence agencies are changing.

Pariscope

Joseph de Weck

Europe’s Quiet Anchor

Without their common currency, EU member states would have struggled to absorb the economic shock of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

Warsaw Memo

Piotr Buras

Overhauling the EU’s Enlargement Policy

It will not be possible to secure Ukraine without the EU changing its approach to enlargement.

Carbon Critical

Kira Vinke

Trump’s Senseless Energy Battle

Taking charge of Venezuela's oil reserves is part of the Trump administration's vain attempt to dictate global energy policy.

Indo-Pacific Watch

Helena Legarda

China Sees Opportunities in Global Disorder

Beijing is largely unconcerned by recent US actions. From a European perspective, China may now appear more reliable than the United States. But Chinese policies and strategic objectives have not changed.

The Wider View

Sophie Eisentraut

A European Strategy for the Global South

If they want global problem solving to succeed without US leadership, the Europeans need to fully acknowledge partner countries’ potential.