Munich Young Leaders 2010 Blog
(Photos: Marc Darchinger)
Amanda Sloat and Olaf Böhnke, two participants of the Munich Young Leaders 2010, are blogging here about their impressions of the Munich Security Conference and the Round Table of the Munich Young Leaders.
(Das deutsche Tagebuch finden Sie hier.)
07.02.2010, 11.30 am
A Historic Handshake and Celebrity Photos
The true highlight of this weekend has been the discussions held during the Munich Young Leaders Round Table. The young leaders represent a diverse array of backgrounds and perspectives, which has inspired stimulating conversation and a lively exchange of views. My biggest frustration is that a single weekend has not been enough time to benefit fully from the wisdom of my colleagues, so I hope that our work brings us together again – now with a greater sense of mutual understanding.
The organizers invited an impressive collection of high level speakers who generously shared their time to speak frankly and answer tough questions. As a fellow participant told me, »I feel like a kid in a candy store speaking with all these people!« Most speakers have commented on the plight facing today’s young leaders: namely that they are leaving us a more complicated world than they had themselves inherited. As children of the 1980s, most of us grew up during the Cold War, enjoyed relative peace during the 1990s (with the notable exception of the Balkans conflict in the 1990s), and are now confronting new threats in the twenty-first century that surpass the traditional bounds of nation-states. Admiral Stavridis showed an impressive understanding of communication in the internet age by encouraging us to »friend« him on facebook.
Past participants have reported that this year’s conference has been more subdued than previous gatherings. One of the main moments of drama occurred on Saturday afternoon, when it was revealed that the Middle East Security panel had been split into two sessions at the last minute given the apparent unwillingness of one participant to sit on the dais with another speaker. While there are still varying explanations of what transpired, a remarkable handshake occurred during the second session when Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon stepped off the dais to shake hands with Prince Turki Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia who was sitting on the floor after speaking in the first session. The young leaders had benefitted from a rich conversation earlier that afternoon with Prince Al Faisal, who engaged in a constructive and friendly exchange of views with our Israeli colleague. This handshake, along with the speech of the Iranian Foreign Minister, may be the big headlines of this year’s conference. Interestingly, both events are only tangentially related to transatlantic relations yet highlight the growing complexity of the challenges requiring our attention.
Another personal highlight of the conference was last night’s dinner at the Kaisersaal in the Residenz, during which French Foreign Minister Kouchner and Dr. Henry Kissinger presented former NATO Secretary General and EU High Representative Javier Solana with the Ewald von Kleist award. As a foreign policy wonk, it was exciting to be seated in an ornate hall surrounded by past and present foreign policy greats. Several young leaders – happily pursued by our personal paparazzi – scurried around the hall to shake hands with Hamid Karzai, Henry Kissinger, Javier Solana, Wolfgang Ischinger, and Madeleine Albright.
Vielen Dank der Körber Foundation und auf ein Wiedersehen München!
* These are personal views that do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee or its Chairman.
06.02.2010, 12.20 pm
Long speeches and brief encounters
After watching the Munich Conference from afar in recent years, I was excited about being in the room for the fireworks and policy-changing moments that have become the hallmarks of this event: insights into Putin`s vision for a new security architecture and Biden`s efforts to reset relations with Russia. I asked Wolfgang Ischinger at dinner on Thursday night to predict what moments would grab the headlines this year. He cited the first ever conference participation by the Chinese and Iranian Foreign Ministers as well as the Saturday morning debate on European global security.
These events have now happened and I suspect they are not front page news. The most striking part of these speeches was not what these Ministers said – which was nothing new or particularly revealing – but rather the fact that they were here at all. (That said, I won´t soon forget the image of a heavily perspiring Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi using the overheated room as an opportunity to lecture participants on energy efficiency and to note the refusal of previous Chinese governments to allow central heating south of the Yangtze River.)
The opening sessions have certainly touched on transatlantic relations, including some handwringing about the state of EU-US relations and the potential effectiveness of post-Lisbon structures. But the speeches and discussions have been rather disappointing in their generalities. Interestingly, relations with Russia – a key theme of previous conferences – now seem almost passé. Even Lavrov´s speech offered little new, focusing on the potential for OSCE to provide a European security framework. The current preoccupation has become the need to respond to the challenges posed by Iran and China.
As the extensive press coverage of Munich (not a feature of earlier Wehrkunde sessions) means that speeches are widely available for public consumption, the real benefit of being in Munich is the opportunity to speak directly with (otherwise inaccessible) foreign policy-makers. While not quite on par with a Brad Pitt sighting, I felt a (wonkish) thrill when Afghan President Karzai swept past me into the conference hall. At dinner last night, the kids´ tables (of young leaders) filled quickly while I was speaking to the Serbian Foreign Minister so I found myself scrambling for a place to sit. I plopped down between former US Ambassador Khalilizad and EU Special Representative to Georgia Pierre Morel, learning far more between bites of fish about American and European thinking in Afghanistan and Georgia than could ever be gleaned from hours spent in a conference room.
* These are personal views that do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee or its Chairman.
05.02.2010, 6 pm
An American in Europe: Young Leaders and the Transatlantic Divide*
As I spent the afternoon fighting waves of jetlag in the overheated conference room of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof where the Munich Security Conference was beginning, I observed that the majority of participants were primarily, with all due respect, elder statesman (or older white men). This reality was wryly acknowledged by Wolfgang Ischinger at the opening dinner of the Munich Young Leaders Round Table last night, when he noted this as the impetus for this forum and encouraged us to challenge the established wisdom of our elders.
While reading through the biographies of my fellow young leaders, I was struck by how many of us were serving as political advisors to such experienced policymakers (members of parliament, foreign ministers, and presidents). These observations made me particularly grateful for the establishment of the Munich Young Leaders Round Table, as it provides a direct channel of communication for those of us who spend our days preparing our principals to engage with each other as well as recognizes the importance of establishing relationships between those of us who will one day take the baton from our esteemed bosses.
During the opening sessions of the Munich Young Leaders Round Table last night and this morning, I was struck by being the only American voice in the room – a unique opportunity for one based in Washington DC. I found myself repeatedly struck by two questions: "Do the US and EU see global challenges in the same way? And do we have necessary structures in place in order to communicate effectively about joint solutions to these challenges?"
On Afghanistan, there was debate about whether European countries believe counter-terrorism efforts there affect their national security or whether they view their participation primarily as a means of currying favour with the United States. The answer to this question undoubtedly influences countries` willingness to contribute additional troops to the ISAF mission as well as the way in which they inform their publics about the mission. The recent decision by President Obama not to attend the EU-US summit in Madrid inspired debate about whether it was a snub to Europe or – diplomatic niceties aside – will serve as an effective motivator for post-Lisbon Europe to solidify its mechanisms for shaping a common foreign policy. Discussion about the recent Butmir talks in Bosnia-Herzegovina raised questions about whether the exercise united American and European views on the Balkans, or instead highlighted to Bosnian politicians that transatlantic divisions remain in regards to aiding the political development of this region.
* These are personal views that do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee or its Chairman.
