Thread by @RikeFranke

Back from @MunSecConf 2023. Always interesting, but this year more important than ever. A few observations:

For me, the theme of the conference was ‘getting the global south on board re our stance on Russia’. #Macron was the first speaker to make the point in detail, but it was also a major element of Kamala Harris’ speech, Stoltenberg, Marin and others equally emphasised it.

There is a realisation that other states don’t care as much about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the west thinks they should. That this invasion & its war crimes are a breach of int. law that cannot stand is an argument western countries will need to make more convincingly.

That the west struggles to make this argument is most likely also a reflection of its relative decline in power.
#msc2023

Another theme was western unity (which is always an msc topic, but this time it had much more urgency). On the big stage, the message was, we are united, and we are united in our support to Ukraine. On the smaller stages…

…and in the hallways, some more fissures emerged, which, I believe, will become more of an issue once this was ends (hopefully soon).

I am in particular thinking of the topic of EU accession of Ukraine - see thread below - but there are others.

https://twitter.com/rikefranke/status/1626866609754148866

The US Inflation Reduction Act, possible political changes in the US, and the details of the weapons deliveries are other examples.

A topic that was not as prominent in the conversations I followed (but, important: at msc there are many things happening at the same time, and you by definition miss things!) was China.

The speech and answers from Wang Yi were much much clearer than I had ever heard from a Chinese official (I am not a China expert, so prob not that surprising). Thread below 👇

https://twitter.com/RikeFranke/status/1626888741414481921

Boris Pistorius, the new German defence minister made a good first impression, something I also heard several times from non-Germans. Everybody is hoping that he can deliver.
#msc2023

.@MunSecConf & @LisaMUllrich made an effort to have 50% women on the panels, and it really showed and made the conference better.
#msc2023

https://twitter.com/rikefranke/status/1626873308510580737

This is my collection of random observations from #msc2023. What makes the conference great on a personal level, is all the great people you get to meet/catch up with. Like the @Sicherheitspod crew. 😊

And talking about Sicherheitshalber: for the German-speakers, here is our Nachlese with @ClaudMajor 👇

https://twitter.com/sicherheitspod/status/1627326155807154177