Munich Security Conference 2026
Reflection of the US-Led Imperialist System in Steep Decline that Threatens Only WarWorkers' Weekly https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-26/ww26-05/ww26-05.htmThe 62nd Munich Security Conference (MSC) that took place from February 13 to 15, 2026, produced no communiqué or statement, yet once again was revealed as the reflection of the deepening crisis of the US-led imperialist system in steep decline that threatens only war. The organisers themselves could not conceal this reality. Their flagship publication, the Munich Security Report 2026, was ironically revealing, titled - Under Destruction [1]. It highlighted that "[t]he world has entered a period of wrecking-ball politics. Sweeping destruction - rather than careful reforms and policy corrections - is the order of the day" and that "the US-led post-1945 international order is now under destruction". Yet, there was no drawing of the obvious conclusions about the reality that neither their claims to previous "careful reforms and policy corrections", nor now their "wrecking-ball politics" have brought about security and peace to Europe and the world in the "US-led post-1945 order". In fact, the very opposite.
Britain, Germany, France and the EU leaders have continued to embrace the US "wrecking-ball politics" themselves amidst the wreckage of their own decline. Thus at the conference, in the name of the security of Europe these old powers, now calling themselves the "coalition of the willing", pledged to escalate their proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. They gave their support to the US in its war threats to Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and the DPRK and continued support for Israel in its war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz was the first to address the conference on February 13 [2]. He received much exaggerated praise in the press for adding his own pessimistic twist to the "under destruction" theme. He said: "This conference has a sombre title: Under Destruction. This title appears to suggest that the international order, which was based on rights and rules, is in the process of being destroyed. - I fear we must put this even more bluntly: this order, as imperfect as it was even at the best of times, no longer exists." However, the hypocrisy of this "rules-based international order" which had led to NATO's move eastwards to threaten Russia in Ukraine and on all sides was ignored as he blamed Russia as a justification for Europe to now become militaristic. He saw a fierce Germany in the lead announcing measures to restore Germany's military industry and forces. As many people have commented this is an approach that has not worked so well before for Germany!
In this way Merz warned Europe to prepare for "a decade of danger" and demanded higher defence spending, faster rearmament, and "unwavering support for Ukraine". However, Merz, like Starmer and Macron, embodies a vision for Europe that wants to act like a great power but cannot escape its dependence on the United States and in this way Merz's bravado barely concealed Germany's strategic paralysis alongside Britain and France. His call, like Starmer regarding Britain, for a more assertive Germany rang hollow - an echo of a past that cannot be revived.
French President Emmanuel Macron also addressed the Conference on February 13 [3] casting himself as Europe's visionary-in-chief making a call for Europe to assert itself as a sovereign geopolitical power. He said that "a stronger Europe will be a better friend for its allies, especially for the United States". He repeated his call for "European strategic autonomy", insisting that Europe must not be "vassals" of any great power, while simultaneously urging deeper alignment with NATO and continued escalation of NATO's proxy war in Ukraine. The contradiction was as glaring as with Starmer and Merz. Macron wants Europe to stand on its own feet, but only so long as it marches in step with Washington. The performance of Macron, alongside Merz and Starmer, in Munich captured the essence of the EU's crisis - a leadership class that talks of independence while remaining structurally dependent, that speaks of peace while fuelling war, and that cannot decide whether it fears American decline more than it fears a world no longer organised around "Western" dominance.
Speaking on February 14, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered what was hailed by the organisers as a "landmark address" [4]. This was interesting because clearly the US was seen as the architect of the "wrecking-ball politics" spoken about in the conference. But this was an attempt by Rubio to paper over the ongoing and increasing contradictions and tensions between the US under President Donald Trump and the old European powers at the head of NATO. It was a chilling call by Rubio for Europe to re-embrace its colonial legacy and Eurocentric values. He hailed "thousands of years of Western civilisation". He declared that the US "may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe", jointly insulting the people of the Americas and Europe. This became even more ironic with the words of Rubio railing against the "a pursuit of a world without borders, we opened our doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people".
Rubio then claimed that the US was for peace and security, saying that it was not the UN but "American leadership that freed captives from barbarians and brought about a fragile truce" for Israel. In other words, condemning the Palestinians for resisting, and justifying Israeli ongoing genocidal crimes. He tried to justify the criminal bombing of Iran, lying that it was to "constrain the nuclear program of radical Shia clerics in Tehran. That required 14 bombs dropped with precision from American B-2 bombers." He also tried to justify the US act of state terrorism against Venezuela and its people and the kidnapping of the President of the Bolivian Republic of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores abusing the President of Venezuela as a "narcoterrorist dictator in Venezuela". On Ukraine, not only did the US alongside Britain and the EU provoke and support the Ukraine war with Russia in 2022, but Rubio tried to say that this is a war that the US claims to be negotiating an end, whilst in reality increasing the oil sanctions on Russia and that "American weaponry is being sold for the Ukrainian war effort".
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also spoke at the conference on February 14 [5]. Reeling from the political crisis at home, Starmer was determined to show that Britain remains a loyal foot soldier of US strategy and that it follows the US "wrecking-ball" wherever it goes, even though more and more countries at the conference in Europe were reluctant to follow. Starmer said that the "US remains an indispensable power" and that "we recognise that things are changing. The US National Security Strategy spells out that Europe must take primary responsibility for its own defence," declaring "that is the new law". In other words, he attempted to align Britain even more tightly with Washington. He dismissed the irony of Brexit by attempting to present Britain as the leader in Europe, trying to align Europe with Britain, when he said that "as Europe, we must stand on our own two feet and that means being bold". On this Starmer said: "We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age. We must be able to deter aggression. And yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight." In other words, Starmer offered no political vision beyond Britain's own "wrecking-ball politics" to ensure there is no peace between Ukraine and Russia. So, no peace in Europe and doubling down on militarisation and arming the "coalition of the willing" for its ongoing proxy war in Ukraine against Russia whether the war continues, or whether there is a peace agreement.
According to reports, the US threat to re-attack Iran was not discussed openly in the main forums and Iranian officials are barred from attending the conference. However, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi criticised the Munich Security Conference and said that the annual security gathering had "turned into the 'Munich Circus'" when it comes to Iran, blaming the European Union and Germany and accusing European powers of losing influence in negotiations over Tehran's nuclear programme. He added that "our friends in the region are far more effective and helpful than an empty-handed and peripheral E3" and claimed that Germany "is leading the way in wholly surrendering its regional policy to Israel". However, it was reported on the sidelines of the conference, Reza Pahlavi - the son of Iran's former monarch - said that US military intervention could help accelerate political change inside Iran and claimed Washington should avoid prolonged negotiations with Tehran over a nuclear deal. Indeed, his remarks even on the sidelines of the conference highlighted the circus that the MSC has become and the false claims that it represents an event for security and not war for the people of Europe and the world.
However, there was some sense of accounting at the MSC when justice was reflected, not from Europe but from the East in the keynote speech by China's foreign minister Wang Yi [6] in a Conversation with China. He rightly said among other important points: "There needs to be greater democracy in international relations, global affairs should be discussed by all and the future of the world should be decided by all."
For many years we have seen that the MSC's description of itself is no longer true. Set up in 1963 in the Cold War period it aimed to by-pass the United Nations as the international security body. The MSC claimed to be the "world's leading forum for debating international security policy". However, the MSC is more and more becoming incapable to come to any decisions. Instead it has become a rally for the warmongers and not even a forum. Russia Today (RT) reported that the MSC "resembled a rally of a self-styled 'coalition of the willing' for war. That, unfortunately, is consistent with Germany's long tradition of failing to draw the right lessons from history. Western European leaders spoke almost exclusively about rearmament and the creation of an independent military capability aimed, openly or implicitly, at confrontation with Russia. The tone was unmistakable: preparation for war, not peace. At the same time, participants repeated the familiar mantra that 'more must be done' to ensure Ukraine's victory. The contradiction went largely unnoticed. What emerged instead was a disturbing impression that Western Europe's war party has overwhelmed everything else, including common sense and the instinct for self-preservation." [7]
Conclusion
No path to peace was discussed at the MSC. No political settlement was considered to resolve the issues with the Russian Federation that the leaders of Britain and the EU blamed. Only more weapons, more destruction, more denial of peace and no real security for the peoples of Europe and the world. The contradiction was glaring: A conference supposedly devoted to "security" endorsing policies of warring factions that make the world profoundly insecure. The MSC was revealed as the reflection of the deepening crisis of the US-led imperialist system in steep decline that threatens only war.
Fight For the Alternative
Security is defined by defending the well-being of the people and the rights of all. The peoples have the right to live in a peaceful world, where conflicts are resolved through international co-operation and negotiation among peoples and countries. Security does not lie with these warmongers and their war preparations. Nor does it lie with the prerogatives of the rich, their arms manufactures and their spheres of contention that fuel division and wars among countries, nationalities and peoples. For the working class and people, the emphasis must be that it is they that have to work to consolidate themselves as the power to combat this warmongering, violence, dictate and militarism. This with their sights set on constituting themselves as an Anti-War Government, and all that entails about authority and power resting with the people who desire peace. The initiative lies with the people and their anti-war movement in Britain and throughout the world.
Notes
1. Under Destruction - Munich Security Report 2026
https://securityconference.org/en/publications/munich-security-report/2026/2. Speech by the Federal Chancellor at the Munich Security Conference on 13. February 2026 in Munich
https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-en/federal-government/speech-munich-security-conference-24072983. Emmanuel Macron Remarks @ MSC 2026 (Transcript)
https://singjupost.com/emmanuel-macron-remarks-msc-2026-transcript/4. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference
https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/02/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-at-the-munich-security-conference5. Speech - PM speech during the Munich Security Conference: 14 February
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-during-the-munich-security-conference-14-february6. Keynote Speech by H.E. Wang Yi at the 62nd Munich Security Conference Conversation with China
https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/wjbzhd/202602/t20260215_11860435.html7. The war party takes Munich - The Munich Security Conference again became a rally, not a forum
https://www.facebook.com/fforbiddennews/posts/the-war-party-takes-munichthe-munich-security-conference-again-became-a-rally-no/916361661320058/
