Highlights from the Munich Security Circus

2026-02-16 - 16:15

The US is reshaping the world, while the EU applauds and tries to keep the old system on life support If this year’s Munich Security Conference proved one thing, it’s that nobody involved has done any reflection on the lessons of last year. The Americans continued to berate their European ‘allies’, while the Europeans resorted to comic-book catchphrases to defend a dying world order. Running from Friday through Sunday, this year’s conference was always going to center on the widening gulf between the US and EU. Conference Foundation President Wolfgang Ischinger spelled this out in a report published before the summit, accusing US President Donald Trump of taking a “wrecking ball” to