Munich conference and reflections on global peace

It is true that this year during the 60th Munich Security Conference (MSC), two of the most talked-about people were not there. That according to Lyse Doucet, BBC analyst, included former US President Donald Trump, "whose possible return to the White House could throw a spanner in the work of the transatlantic relationship, which lies at the heart of this premier international forum" and also "Russia's President Vladimir Putin who has cast a long shadow across Europe and beyond" because of his "invasion of Ukraine".

Such a situation led some important leaders to express anxiety over the evolving geo-political scenario. EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell told the media, "We live in a world where there is more and more confrontation and less co-operation. The world has become a much more dangerous place."

Such an observation was also reflected in the MSC's annual report. It warned that such a scenario could give rise to "lose-lose" dynamics among governments, "a downward spiral that jeopardises co-operation and undermines the existing international order". This view was also reflected by David Miliband, the CEO and President of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) who indicated that "this has been the conference of a disordered world dominated by impunity, where the guardrail stabilizers are not working and that's why there's so much disorder, not just in Ukraine and in Gaza and Israel, but more widely in places like Sudan, whose humanitarian crisis isn't even getting on the agenda."

It needs to be noted that this year Russia, as well as Iran, were not invited to Munich because the organisers strangely assessed that they were not "interested in meaningful dialogue". The visible presence of Russia's veteran Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was missed in particular.

However, this year's MSC marked a record attendance: more than 900 participants including some 50 heads of state and government from around the world, more than 100 ministers, as well as representatives of think-tanks, non-governmental organisations and leading businesses.

The Bangladesh Prime Minister went to Munich on February 15 to attend the Munich Security Conference 2024 and returned home on February 19. During her stay in Munich, the Prime Minister attended the Munich Security Conference and held bilateral meetings with global leaders on the sidelines of the conference. This was also her first visit abroad to attend any international meeting after being re-elected as Prime Minister.

After her return to Dhaka Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina subsequently addressed a media conference to apprise the country of the outcomes of her recent visit to Munich in Germany to attend the Munich Security Conference 2024.

She underlined that her participation at Munich Security Conference reflected Bangladesh's strong commitment towards peace, sovereignty and overall global security.

During her stay in Munich, she also held bilateral meetings with global leaders on the sidelines of the Conference. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina described her visit as successful. She observed that she had told the world leaders that the strength of the policy of a country -- not the size -- was the pursuit for political and socio-economic freedom. Significantly, it was also indicated that through bilateral meetings with friendly countries and international organisations the continuation of the relations for Bangladesh has become stronger and new horizons of cooperation have been unleashed. Such a view has emerged because of her wide-ranging comments during different meetings, including those on the sidelines.

The Prime Minister said that while speaking at the high-level panel on 'From Pocket to Planet: Scaling Up Climate Finance' she called for an immediate end to all hostilities, illegal occupations and inhuman killings of unarmed people, especially women and children, in Gaza and the rest of the world. In this context she drew attention of everyone "to the fact that the adverse effects of economic sanctions and counter-sanctions are felt far beyond the battlefield."  She also urged everyone to make available and implement the necessary logistics and financing to address the risks of climate change by ending the senseless arms race.

She termed the evolving critical geo-political scenario as "a crisis of humanity's existence." She also reiterated that this harsh reality of focusing on petty interests only brings misery. From this perspective, she called on "the international community to take immediate measures to address the growing security risks posed by climate change." Sheikh Hasina said that she called on the world leaders to work together to seriously consider the financing needed to address the challenges posed by climate change. She emphasised the need to "place special emphasis on increasing financing for affected countries and populations, actual transfer of pledged funds, and ensuring financial and technical assistance to vulnerable countries to address the multiple security risks posed by climate change." She also called for the swift implementation of the political commitments of rich countries and for all concerned to work together on the basis of mutual partnership and cooperation to address the global risk of climate change.

This strong view of her was greatly appreciated by many leaders from climate variability affected African and Latin American countries during the meetings with her on the sideline.

The Prime Minister also drew the attention of several world leaders to the continuing and existing problem pertaining to the repatriation of the Rohingya population to Myanmar and sought their active engagement in this regard.

Qatar Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani during his talks with Prime Minister Hasina assured Qatar's continued support for a sustainable and quick solution to the Rohingya problem. In addition, Al-Thani also discussed with her about "mutual trade, investment, LNG supply and the need to work together to end Israeli violence in the Gaza Strip."

During her meeting with World Bank's Senior Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnership Axel von Trotsenburg, she called for the speedy release of the US Dollar 500 million pledged by the World Bank as budget support in the current fiscal year in the light of their contribution to the inclusion of middle-income countries. In response the World Bank Official assured that the World Bank's assistance will continue in Bangladesh's desired path to the status of upper-middle-income and high-income countries. This was indeed a welcome achievement.

Director General of the World Health Organisation Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at talks with the PM also lauded Bangladesh's achievements in health sector, especially in basic health care.

The Prime Minister had a bilateral meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the conference. Apparently, both of them expressed their satisfaction with the existing bilateral relations and expressed their desire for bilateral trade cooperation in wheat, edible oil and other agricultural products. Within the paradigm of evolving geo-politics, she "urged upon him to explore effective ways to quickly resolve the Ukraine-Russia conflict" and pay attention towards the on-going conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Such an approach on the part of the Bangladesh Prime Minister had connotations as Zelensky was focusing on the imperative of continuing hefty Western military and financial assistance to Ukraine. According to Lyse Doucet the US's pivotal support was uppermost in his mind as a vital security package, amounting to US Dollar 60 billion being held up by a US Congress where Republican lawmakers are increasingly divided over whether to keep backing Kyiv in its fight. In this regard US delegates in Munich, including Vice-President Kamala Harris, were at pains to insist that she and President Joe Biden would not abandon Ukraine, nor America's leadership in global affairs. However, it also needs to be noted that with US elections just nine months away, Mr Trump is already shaping the polarised political debate in Washington and reviving anxiety that he could pull the US out of the NATO military alliance and other international commitments.

 It also needs to be observed at this juncture that the United States has talked about climate variability but there has not been any clear or positive observations about ensuring financial and technical assistance to vulnerable countries to address the multiple security risks posed by climate change as underlined by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

It also needs to be observed that Israel's military operations are causing a staggering number of civilian casualties and have ravaged much of this coastal strip of Gaza. Many leaders including Sheikh Hasina expressed the need for a peaceful resolution of the issue not only through a ceasefire and a substantial amount of international aid into Gaza, but also through the creation of a Palestinian State. This was particularly highlighted by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh's remarked in an interview. This approach was however opposed by Israeli delegates, including former peace negotiator Tzipi Livni who doubled down on the need to keep pressing forward in their fighting in Gaza.

This, in its own way, underlined how the world's understanding of "global security" keeps shifting shape within this Forum - born in 1963 in a Cold War quest for peace and prosperity. This, in all probability, led Nathalie Tocci, Director of the Institute of International Affairs to observe "Lots of words. No concrete commitments".

Muhammad Zamir, a former Ambassador, is an analyst specialised in foreign affairs, right to information and good governance.
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