The world has entered a dangerous period of “destructive politics” that favors dismantling institutions over gradual reform, the Munich Security Conference (MSC) said in a report ahead of its annual gathering this week.
The MSC will bring together 65 world leaders, nearly 100 defense and foreign ministers, and other senior military and government officials for three days of discussions starting Friday.
One of the most prominent guests expected in the German city is U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected. Friedrich Merz will be attending the conference for the first time since becoming German chancellor.
The event, first held in 1963, has grown from a relatively obscure gathering of Cold War strategists to a major forum for advocates of NATO, transatlantic ties, and a Western-led world order.
But this year’s conference will focus on the weakening of those very relationships and diplomatic norms.
The “2026 Munich Security Report”, published on Monday, places much of the blame for the radical changes on US President Donald Trump, who it claims is “destroying the existing rules” and implementing “destructive policies”.
But Trump represents only the most powerful manifestation of a broader trend recorded in several countries.
“In many Western societies, political forces favoring destruction over reform are in full swing,” wrote the team of experts responsible for the MSC’s “Under Destruction” report.
Establishment decision-makers are seen less and less as leaders and more and more as “protectors of the status quo” and stewards of a paralyzed political system that no longer responds to the needs of the majority.
A pessimistic attitude about the future
In a report, the conference published the results of research carried out in several countries on whether current government policies will improve the situation for future generations.
In China, 80 percent of respondents expect improvements, and 61 percent of them said so in India. In the United States, only 31 percent of respondents share this view, and expectations are even lower among respondents in Europe: 22 percent in Italy, 20 percent in the United Kingdom, 13 percent in Germany, and just 12 percent in France expect a better future.
MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger wrote in the report’s foreword that “deep uncertainty” is affecting the world, but Europe in particular.
“Rarely in the recent history of the conference have so many fundamental questions been on the table at the same time: about Europe’s security, the resilience of the transatlantic partnership, and the ability of the international community to manage an increasingly complex and conflict-ridden world,” according to Ischinger.
Trump’s policies are only approved by a small number of people in many countries.
Even in the United States, only 39 percent of respondents say his policies are good for the country, and 37 percent think they are good for the world, while about half of respondents say they are harmful.
Pessimism is strongest in Canada and Germany. About 77 percent of Canadians and 72 percent of Germans expect negative consequences for their country. As for negative consequences for the world, 71 percent of Canadians and 69 percent of Germans expect them.
Outside the United States, Trump’s policies are most popular in Brazil, India, and China.
The results are based on a survey conducted in November with about 1,000 participants from each of the G7 countries, as well as Brazil, China, India, and South Africa.
A call for greater independence from Washington
The report says countries that remain committed to the rules-based order need to organize, stand up for themselves and embrace approaches that are independent of Washington.
The report warns passive observers that they could be left at the “mercy and mercy of great power policies.”
To avoid this, governments will need to invest more in their own capabilities and work more closely together, while showing voters that meaningful reforms can deliver better results than “policies of widespread destruction.”
