Latest news with #MunichSecurityReport2025
Associated Press
22-02-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
To answer the key questions about world multipolarity
BEIJING, Feb. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from People's Daily: At the recently held 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC), multipolarity became the focus of discussion. Is today's world truly moving toward a multipolar order? How can the world ensure a healthy and stable transition to multipolarity? The answer to these critical questions concerns the stability of the international order and world peace and development. A multipolar world is both a historical inevitability and a reality. The Munich Security Report 2025, themed 'Multipolarization,' states that today's world is characterized by 'multipolarization.' This assessment aligns with the prevailing consensus in the international community. In international relations, 'pole' refers to key influential political and economic forces in the global system. At its core, multipolarity is a global power and governance system featuring extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit. Since the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, the world has rapidly transitioned toward multipolarity. All countries and regions have increasingly sought a more independent and autonomous position in international affairs. Today, multipolarity is a direct reflection of the changing global power dynamics. According to the International Monetary Fund, emerging markets and developing economies contributed 58.9 percent to the global economy in 2023. The Munich Security Report 2025 highlights that BRICS nations account for about 40 percent of global trade and 40 percent of crude oil production and exports. This is not just about economic development - it is a basis for structural change in global order. The MSC saw 30 percent of its speakers this year representing the Global South, a testament to the world's multipolar trajectory. Global South countries are asserting greater independence in global affairs. They have actively promoted greater democracy in international relations through platforms such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, injecting vital momentum into the world multipolarization process. The report notes that multipolarization is not only evident in the diffusion of material power but also in the fact that the world has become more polarized ideologically. Developing nations have grown more self-assured in exploring the path to development independently. Together, the Global South is advocating for equal exchanges, inclusiveness and mutual learning among civilizations. A multipolar world better reflects the international community's aspirations for justice, fairness, and win-win cooperation. It aligns more closely with the realistic need for peace and development, and is more conducive to the reform of the global governance system. Increasing representation and voice of developing countries in global governance does not signify the 'decline of the West.' Rather, it fosters a more balanced and cooperative international system and helps maintain the vitality of multilateralism in a multipolar world. Just as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres suggested, multipolarity promises to be 'a way to fix multilateralism.' To prevent disorder and conflict during the transitional period in the international order, the key lies in working for an equal and orderly multipolar world. The international community should jointly advocate equal treatment, respect the international rule of law, practice true multilateralism, and pursue openness and mutual benefit. It should be a factor of certainty in the multipolar system, and strive to be steadfast constructive forces in a changing world. To build an equal and orderly multipolar world, rules must be followed. The purposes and principles of the UN Charter provide fundamental guidance for handling international relations, and an important cornerstone of a multipolar world. To build an equal and orderly multipolar world, views on cooperation must be updated with the times. One prominent concern about multipolarity is that it may lead to an inadequate supply of global public goods. To prevent this, nations must strike a balance between national and collective interests, and embrace a correct view of cooperation. By practicing true multilateralism, promoting extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit, and advancing a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, all parties can strengthen their ability to tackle challenges and pursue development with solid steps. The international community should seize this historic moment to shape an equal and orderly multipolar world. By prioritizing wisdom over fear, cooperation over confrontation, and rules over disorder, the world will move toward a brighter, more inclusive future.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hopes for Ukraine peace deal framework at Munich Security Conference
The director of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) hopes the "contours" of a peace agreement for Ukraine can be reached at the high-profile international summit in southern Germany this weekend. "We hope - and we already have corresponding signals - that Munich will be used to make progress with regards to peace in Ukraine," said Christoph Heusgen in Berlin on Monday. Heusgen was in the German capital to present the "Munich Security Report 2025" ahead of the conference. The MSC is due to take place from Friday to Sunday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, US Vice President JD Vance and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz all expected to attend along with some 60 other political leaders. A meeting between Scholz and Vance is expected. "Whether a plan will be announced at the conference remains to be seen," said Heusgen. "What I'm sure about is that the conference will be used to see the contours of such a plan, and which parameters must be in an agreement." Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for almost three years. German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Monday that intensive efforts at various levels to end the killing in Ukraine were ongoing. However, Berlin's stance that "nothing should be decided over the heads of the Ukrainians" remained unchanged, he noted. The European Union is expected to send a high-profile delegation to the security meeting, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who will be accompanied by the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, European Council President Antonio Costa and the first-ever European commissioner for defence, Andrius Kubilius. Russia has not been invited to take part since launching its war on Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The Munich Security Report 2025 presented by Heusgen analyses "the far-reaching consequences of the multipolarization of the international order." It found that "for many politicians and citizens around the globe, a more multipolar world holds significant promise." However, recent developments suggest that "the negative effects of greater multipolarity are prevailing as divides between major powers grow and competition among different order models stands in the way of joint approaches to global crises and threats." The US, China and Russia are seen as superpowers by an overwhelming majority in almost all countries, followed by Britain, Japan and Germany, said Tobias Bunde, director of research at MSC.
Euronews
10-02-2025
- Business
- Euronews
'Perfect storm' of crises threatening EU's security and economic models, report warns
The EU is facing a "perfect storm" of crises threatening its security, economic, and ideological models that it can weather only if it boosts defence spending and trade ties with other regions, the Munich Security Report 2025 warns. The annual report, released on Monday, days before world leaders, ministers and defence executives meet at the Munich Security Conference, states that the negative effects of the multipolarisation of the international order appear to be prevailing and particularly challenging the EU's vision for the world. On the defence side, it notes that "Russia's war against Ukraine has destroyed Europe's cooperative security architecture" and that Donald Trump's return to the White House is "compounding the crisis". Moscow's large-scale invasion of its neighbour jolted EU countries into spending more on their defence, with most of the member states that are also part of NATO and that had been failing to meet the military alliance's defence spending target of 2% of GDP, now meeting it. "Yet these increases remain insufficient, given Ukraine's needs and warnings that Russia could expand its war effort into NATO territory within five to eight years," the report says, also noting that the new US administration has been forceful in its messaging to get the bloc to assume greater responsibility for its security. Trump has for instance called for the NATO spending target to be raised to 5%, a threshold no ally currently meets. He has also said he would encourage Russia to 'do whatever the hell they want' to allies who don't pay enough. The EU, the report argues, must find ways to boost spending further despite fiscal constraints, overcome the fragmentation of its defence industrial base, and deepen cooperation with third countries, notably Norway and the UK. Leaders from the 27-country bloc are currently wrestling with the issue of how to boost spending and production with multiple options on the table as estimates put the financial gap to plug at €500 billion over the coming decade. These include expanding the mandate of the European Investment Bank and relaxing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) rules for private European banks so that they can invest more more defence projects, as well as issuing so-called Eurobonds to raise funds. Leaders also tasked the European Commission at an informal retreat earlier this month to look into bending the bloc's fiscal rules to exclude defence spending from their national expenditures. A White Paper on defence detailing the military capabilities the bloc needs and the various options to finance them is to be released on March 19. The new geopolitical reality is also weakening the EU's traditional economic model, the report says, with Trump's electoral victory likely to accelerate the trend. The US President has threatened to slap tariffs on the EU, and announced on Sunday he would impose a 25% tariff on any steel and aluminium coming to the US, which could impact the bloc too. US tariffs on China would also have far-reaching negative consequences for the EU, according to the report, as it could lead Beijing to intensify "market-distorting practices of flooding the European market with cheap, heavily subsidized exports". Furthermore, the tit-for-tat approach favoured by Washington, Beijing and Moscow is leading to a breakdown of international organisations, including the World Trade Organisation, the report says. According to the authors, the EU must diversify its trade relations and forge new partnerships with countries of the so-called Global South and possibly accept "painful concessions" to strike those deals, a feat that appears difficult given the current hand-wringing over the Mercosur deal. But the bloc also faces internal ideological headwinds, exacerbated by external interference. The far right is now in government in seven member states and has a sizeable delegation at the European Parliament, challenging the liberal democratic model the bloc has championed since its inception. The two-biggest member states - France and Germany - are not spared with the Rassemblement National and the Alternative for Germany parties wielding considerable power in the public and political discourse. This ideological splintering could hinder the EU's unity and decision-making at this crucial moment in its history, the report states. Overall, among the G7 countries, only the US believes it will be more secure and wealthy in ten years' time while the perceived risk posed by the US increased sharply following Trump's election, especially in Germany and Canada. Multiple EU officials will attend the Munich Security Conference held from February 14 to 16, including Commission chief Ursula vond er Leyen, Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, and top diplomat Kaja Kallas. JD Vance, the US' vice-president, and Keith Kellogg, Washington's Ukraine-Russia envoy, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are also expected to take part.
