“Rechts!” barked the man sitting in the backseat with me, craning his neck to look out the rear window. Upon hearing this, our driver firmly tugged the steering wheel with a smooth confidence that could only come from highly specialized government training. The vehicle lurched into the lane to our right and the engine revved higher. We were barreling down the Autobahn in an armored BMW sedan at 115 miles per hour, weaving in and out of traffic to the beat of a David Guetta song blaring from the Harman Kardon stereo speakers. Indifferent to the idea that we might travel through time if we drove any faster, the blonde-haired and blue-eyed man in the front seat nonchalantly asked me in a thick German accent if Donald Trump was going to win the next presidential election. As if sensing my surprise at his question, he turned to look at me: “Even in Europe, it matters.” I would soon find out just how accurate this statement really was.
In 1963, Ewald von Kleist convened a small meeting in the Bavarian city of Munich. The topic of discussion was international security policy, and the attendees included notorious American diplomat Henry Kissinger. Von Kleist had been a member of the German resistance during World War II and had even played a key role in several assassination attempts against Adolf Hitler. Having personally witnessed the atrocities of a global war, von Kleist vowed from that point foward to dedicate his time to achieving peace through dialogue. His vision would grow to be known as the Munich Security Conference, and 2024 would mark its 60th edition.
The fact was not lost on anyone attending the 2024 Munich Security Conference (“MSC”) that the world was once again in a state of disarray. An unjustified invasion and an atrocious terrorist attack have resulted in two wars, the former entering its second year and being the topic of discussion at MSC 2024.
As the costs of everyday necessities like groceries, housing, dining out, and transportation continue to skyrocket in the United States, so do the voices of the disappearing middle class who can’t help but wonder how many more packages of tens of billions of American dollars need to leave our unsecured borders to fund wars we aren’t fighting. Those of us struggling to balance a budget at home are watching Congress race towards another government shutdown. As much as we want to continue helping our neighbor nations, we must do so in a way that does not compromise the quality of life that Americans are entitled to. It is this trepidation that resulted in so many European leaders becoming unusually interested in the political affairs of the United States during the 2024 Munich Security Conference.
Regardless of their political affiliation or ability to do their job, world leaders and influential businesspeople need to be secure in their persons and effects. To allow otherwise would be anarchy. As patterns established by my previous blog posts such as #27: UNGA 78 and #29: APEC Leaders’ Summit have shown, amassing all the decisionmakers of the globe in one location means my team and I get to become involved.
Source: https://flic.kr/p/2pyDQfi
Source: https://flic.kr/p/2i3QpA7
Source: https://flic.kr/p/Peg9Co
Despite the best efforts of the attendees who came from near and far, the mood at the Munich Security Conference as it came to a close was not optimistic. The world is at a crossroads, and those of us with a front seat to the biggest geopolitical events of our time are growing increasingly uneasy while the environments we operate in become correspondingly more dangerous.
It is more important than ever, during these critical times, that we take time to appreciate what is most important in life. Even with the massive backdrop of safety measures and security protocols implemented for the Munich Security Conference, there was just enough free time for my team to split up and experience everything the historic city had to offer. In the sequel to this blog, we’ll set off on a sightseeing tour of Munich.
The Dark Passport 