The Munich Security Conference; its impacts and achievements for Afghanistan

 

The fifty third Munich Security Conference was held on 17 Feb 2017 in Munich, Germany to examine political and security challenges of the world. 30 Heads of states, 80 foreign and defense ministers and more than 100 Parliament members of various countries had taken part in this conference.

The Afghan President, headed a high ranking Afghan delegation, also participated and delivered his speech in this conference. Underscoring the security threats and the activities of 20 “terrorist” groups, Ghani said that war in Afghanistan was a war fought for the security of the world. At the sidelines of the conference, he also met some senior officials of various countries.

Here you would read about the background and impacts (especially on Afghanistan) of Munich Conference and Afghanistan’s achievements in this conference.

 

The Munich Security Conference in a glance

Munich Security Conference is a gathering of more than 450 senior decision-makers held in every February since 1963 in Munich, Germany. The conference is a major global forum for the discussion of security policy, where the leaders of more than 70 countries participate annually.

The participants of this conference usually are heads of states, ministers, parliament members, the high ranking representatives of armed forces, leading personalities of international organizations, representatives of the civil society, and the representatives of industrial sectors and media. [1]

Generally, the conference is not an official conference but rather a private gathering of the individuals involved in global politics and economy. Therefore, in this conference, the countries do not sign any agreements neither do they make any specific and guaranteed decisions about any specific issue. The leaders of the world, in this conference, consult and exchange opinions about global security challenges.

 

The 2017 Munich Security Conference

This year, the Munich Conference give importance to the global political and security tensions and crisis, especially the Trump government’s views about the political and security issues of the world.

In this conference, the attendants discussed the world security and particularly the security of the Eastern Europe, encountering religious extremism in the world, the US-Russia relations, the US-NATO relations, the migrants and refugee crisis and some other significant issues. In this conference the US, on the one hand, expressed its support from NATO and, on the other hand, threatened to shrink its part in NATO if the European countries did not rise their military budget up to two percent of their GDPs. In the meanwhile, Russia accused NATO of pursuing politics of cold war era.

On the other hand, it is Trump’s government that encounters the political and security issues of the world with ambiguity and concerns. In the first day of the conference the German Chancellor, pointedly addressing the new US administration, said that Germany opposed tarnishing western values and human dignity. In this regard, she pointed out tortures and stressed that fight against “terrorism” should not alter to fight against Islam and Muslims.

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, in this conference, raised finger toward Iran and said that, promoting “sectarianism”, this country had weakened stability in many countries in the region including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and gulf coastal countries. He said that, “Iran is trying to change Iraq and Syria into two Shiite countries, which is a dangerous move.” Apart from Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel, the US and Saudi Arabia also criticized the role played by Iran in the region. [2] the war in Syria was also among the discussed issues in this conference.

 

Afghanistan’s achievements in Munich Conference

Hoping that the Munich Conference would further increase international community’s support from the country, Afghanistan had taken part in this conference. In this regard, a few points are noteworthy:

• Participating in this conference, President Ghani got the opportunity to meeting and talking with the world leaders and decision-makers and, at the sidelines of the Conference, he met officials of various countries and international organizations (German Chancellor, the US Vice President, the President of Azerbaijan, the Croatian President, the Norwegian Prime Minister, the Georgian Prime Minister, the Secretary General of the UN, the US senators and the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Germany, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran and Qatar,…). In these meetings, the Afghan President tried to improve relations with world countries and organizations.
• The Afghan President said, in this conference, that the war in Afghanistan was not a civil war and that it was a drug and terrorism war and an undeclared state-to-state war. Ghani apparently was pointing out Pakistan. Participating in this conference, Ghani got the opportunity to persuade countries and international organizations to pressurize Pakistan.
• At the sidelines of the conference, the Afghan government also signed a cooperation agreement on partnership and development with the European Union. The agreement officially defines EU cooperation with Afghanistan. The agreement “will smooth the way for bilateral cooperation on rule of law, health, rural development, education, science and technology, counter corruption, money laundering, preventing terrorism sponsorship, organized crimes and narcotics.” [3]

 

The impacts of MSC on peace and security in Afghanistan

Although, no specific decisions are made in this conference, but it is a place where most important political consultations and meetings occur, which influence the policies of the countries. Therefore, the 2017 MSC impacts, in some aspects, the situation in Afghanistan as well:

• Security: speaking at the conference, the Afghan President said that there cannot be a distinction between good and bad “terrorist” and that it was a defining challenge of our time and that it required a generational commitment to overcome. He said that the fight against extremist groups was not a fight for Afghanistan’s liberty, but a fight for the security of the world.

At the sidelines of the conference, Ghani met the Secretary of Defenses of the US and the UK as well as the Vice President of the United States and discussed especially the security issues. Overall, in this conference, the Afghan government tried to attract international community’s attention towards Afghanistan and most likely succeeded to this end.

• Peace: in a meeting with the Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs, President Ghani said that if until the spring and summer next year the Taliban’s behavior did not change and they continued war, sanctions, including the closure of the Taliban’s Qatar Office, must be imposed on them. [4] Such a demand on behalf of the NUG means that the NUG now want to tighten the circle around the Taliban and thus force them to join the peace process-a move which some people considers a roll-back in this process.
• Relations: besides the leaders of other countries, the Afghan delegation also met officials of the new US government. Meetings held at the sidelines of this conference would positively affect the relations between the Afghan government and other countries. But, in this conference, the Afghan government indirectly mentioned Pakistan as the supporter of “terrorism” and said that the Afghan war had foreign dimensions. However, not only in this conference but also in other such events, the Afghan government has criticized Pakistan, which has fueled tensions in relations between the two countries.

 

The end

[1] For further information: https://www.securityconference.de/en/about/about-the-msc/

[2] Read more in this report of BBC:  http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-39032611

[3] President Ghani arrives home from Munich Security Conference, Presidential Place: http://president.gov.af/en/news/298506

[4] Read more here:  http://president.gov.af/fa/news/298504