On the occasion of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2023, we offered a Youth Hub in cooperation with the MSC and its valued partners from February 16 through February 19, 2023 at the Amerikahaus. We were pleased to welcome not only interested individuals, but also high-ranking international politicians and security experts.
Among others were Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture and Media, and David Van Weel, Deputy Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges of NATO, as well as Radoslaw Sikorski, a member of the European Parliament, as well as a former Secretary of State and Minister of Defense for the Republic of Poland, Jürgen Ehle, Rear Admiral of the German Armed Forces and Military Advisor to the Acting Director CSDP of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Roderich Kiesewetter MdB, the Special Representative to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Control Panel, Dr. Claudia Major, Head of Research Group at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Prof. Carlo Masala, Head of the Department of International Politics at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, and Philip von Haehling, Head of the German, Austrian, and Swiss Public Sector for Amazon Web Service.
Ali Aslan (International TV-Moderator and Journalist), Dr. Franziska Brantner MdB (Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and Member of the German Bundestag), Roderich Kiesewetter MdB (Special Representative to the Foreign Affairs Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Control Panel) and Julia Leeb (Photographer and Filmemaker) at the "13th Panel of Experts on the Munich Security Conference: A New World Order? Why it Matters? The World after the War in Ukraine" on Friday, February 17, 2023.
Jeffrey Rathke (President of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS)), Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook (Executive Vice President/Senior Advisor of the Bertelsmann Stiftung), David Van Weel (Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)), Yasmin Al-Douri (Mitbegründerin des Responsible Technology Hub), Melinda Crane (Senior Political Analyst, Deutsche Welle), Carisa Nietsche (Associate Fellow, Center for a New American Security (CNAS)), Phil Venables (Chief Information Security Officer and Vice President of Google Cloud, Google) and Dr. Meike Zwingenberger (CEO of Amerikahaus – Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations) at the "U.S.-German Futures Forum – Data for Good: Tech Insight for Security and Democracy" on Thursday, February 16, 2023.
Theresa Caroline Winter (Head of the Security and Defense Policy Department of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom), Dr. Benedetta Berti (Head of the Policy Planning Division in the Office of the NATO Secretary General), Professor David Rowe (Professor of Political Science and Fulbright Scholar in NATO Security Studies) and PD Dr. Moritz Weiss (Lecturer for International Relations, LMU Munich) at the event "Autonomy vs. Efficiency: What if the EU Sacrifices its Dream of an Autonomous Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) for Reliable Security?" on Friday, February 17, 2023.
Manuela Kasper-Claridge (Editor-in-Chief of Deutsche Welle), Jürgen Ehle (Rear Admiral of the German Armed Forces & Military Advisor to the Executive Director of CSDP of the European External Action Service (EEAS)), Radoslaw Sikorski (Member of the European Parliament and former State Secretary and Minister of Defense of the Republic of Poland) and Dr. Katja Muñoz (DGAP Research Fellow, Center for Geopolitics, Geoeconomics and Technology) at the Event "Debating the West's Response to Digital Information Warfare: A Call to Action in a Polarized World – Hybrid Event" am Freitag, 17. Februar 2023.
Philip von Haehling (Head of the German, Austrian, and Swiss Public Sector for Amazon Web Service), Selin Yilmaz (President of YATA International), Jessica Cox (Director of the Nuclear Policy Directorate in the Defense Policy and Planning Division of NATO Headquarters), Mariam Kublashvili (Vice President for Public Diplomacy at YATA) und Leonhard Simon (President of YATA Germany) at the event "A Perspective by the Youth: How NATO Responds to Russian Belligerence in Eastern Europe" on Friday, February 17, 2023.
Philip von Haehling (Head of the German, Austrian, and Swiss Public Sector for Amazon Web Service), Selin Yilmaz (President of YATA International), Jessica Cox (Director of the Nuclear Policy Directorate in the Defense Policy and Planning Division of NATO Headquarters) and Mariam Kublashvili (Vice President for Public Diplomacy at YATA) at the event "A Perspective by the Youth: How NATO Responds to Russian Belligerence in Eastern Europe" on Friday, February 17, 2023.
Gerd Friedsam (President of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief) und Lieutenant General Alfons Mais (Lieutenant General of the Army of the German Armed Forces and the 21st Inspector of the Army) at the event "The Future Role of the Bundeswehr for the German Security System in view of the National Security Strategy"on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Lieutenant General Alfons Mais (Lieutenant General of the Army of the German Armed Forces and the 21st Inspector of the Army), Gerd Friedsam (President of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief), Prof. Dr. Natascha Zowislo-Grünewald (Professor for Corporate Communications at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich), Viceadmiral Dr. Thomas Daum (Inspekteur CIR) and Dr. Claudia Major (SWP) at the event "The Future Role of the Bundeswehr for the German Security System in view of the National Security Strategy" on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Tobias Bauer (President of the Young Transatlantic Initiative), Elie Castanie and Dr. Ian-Tsing Dieu (Director General of the Munich branch office of the Taipei Representative Office) at the event "Endangered Democracies: Rethinking Stability and Cooperation through Transatlantic Values" on Saturday 18, 2023.
Prof. Dr. Alexander Wuttke (Professor of Digitalization and Political Behavior at LMU Munich), Robin Wagener (Member of the German Bundestag (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)) , Dr. Ian-Tsing Dieu (Director General of the Munich branch office of the Taipei Representative Office), Elie Castanie, Tobias Bauer (President of the Young Transatlantic Initiative) and Prof. Dr. Sönke Neitzel (Chair of War Studies at the University of Potsdam) at the event "Endangered Democracies: Rethinking Stability and Cooperation through Transatlantic Values" on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Aisha Khurram (2019 Afghan UN Youth Representative, writer, and activist) at the event "Untapped Partnerships: Working Together to Harness the Potential of Youth as Promoters of Peace & Security" on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Dr. Meike Zwingenberger (CEO of Amerikahaus – Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations), Aisha Khurram (2019 Afghan UN Youth Representative, writer, and activist), Saji Prelis (Co-Chair Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security and Director for Children and Youth Programmes at Search for Common Ground) and Irene Fellin (NATO Secretary General‘s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security) at the event "Untapped Partnerships: Working Together to Harness the Potential of Youth as Promoters of Peace & Security" on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Dr. Meike Zwingenberger (CEO of Amerikahaus – Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations), Claudia Roth (Minister of State for Culture and Media) and Katja Hofem (Vice President for Content at Netflix DACH) at the Special Film Screening of All Quiet on the Western Front on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Claudia Roth (Minister of State for Culture and Media) at the Special Film Screening of All Quiet on the Western Front on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
These politicians and specialists discussed current security and geopolitical issues with the audience. Their debate focused on the war in Ukraine, the West's tense relations to Russia and China, the role of NATO and the EU, technological warfare, misinformation, the Global South, and data security.
We are particularly happy about the lively interest and engagement of the young adults present at the Youth Hub as co-organizers, listeners and participants of the events, as well as the speakers, who stimulated lively and constructive discussions with their informative presentations.
We would like to extend our gratitude to all speakers, contributors, and partner organizations that assisted us in organizing this event.
The following is an overview of the course of the weekend and formats during the MSC Youth Hub.
Photo: Dr. Meike Zwingenberger (CEO of Amerikahaus – Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations) and Dr. Benedikt Franke (CEO of the Munich Security Conference) in front of the banner "Welcome 2 our Youth Hub" © Amerikahaus München
A Selection of Our Events
Martina Bogdahn
The opening event of our 2023 MSC Youth Hub was the "U.S.-German Futures Forum - Data for Good: Tech Insight for Security and Democracy". David Van Weel (Deputy Secretary General for Emerging NATO Security Challenges) discussed together with Yasmin Al-Douri (Co-founder of the Responsible Technology Hub), Carisa Nietsche (Associate Fellow of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS)) and Phil Venables (Chief Information Security Officer and Vice President of Google Cloud, Google) the collaboration of the public and private sectors to protect data and prevent the spreading of false information. The U.S. German Futures Forum was organized by Federal Foreign Office, the U.S.Department of State, the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the AICGS in cooperation with the Amerikahaus – Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations, the Munich Security Conference, and the U.S. Consulate General Munich.
Photo: Carisa Nietsche (Associate Fellow of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS)), Melinda Crane (Senior Policy Analyst at Deutsche Welle) and David Van Weel (Deputy Secretary General for Emerging NATO Security Challenges) ©Martina Bogdahn
Martina Bogdahn
Also on Friday, February 17, 2023, the focus was particularly on data security and digital warfare in the context of the war in Ukraine. At the event taking place, "Debating the West's Response to Digital Information Warfare: A Call to Action in a Polarized World", in cooperation with the Young German Council on Foreign Relations (Young DGAP), one of the topics discussed was the spread of misinformation and how to counter it.The 13th Panel of Experts at the Munich Security Conference, which took place in cooperation with the Young Forum of the Foreign Affairs Association, discussed the current war situation in Ukraine and what roles NATO and the EU play in it.
Photo: Jürgen Ehle (Rear Admiral of the German Armed Forces and Military Advisor to the Executive Director of CSDP of the European External Action Service (EEAS)) © Martina Bogdahn
Martina Bogdahn
On Saturday morning, high-ranking individuals such as Prof. Carlo Masala (Head of the Chair for International Politics at the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich) and Dr. Claudia Major (Head of Research Group at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) discussed the role of the German Armed Forces in relation to the increasingly escalating situation in Europe at our event, "The Future Role of the Bundeswehr for the German Security System in view of the National Security Strategy," which took place in cooperation with the Jungen Gesellschaft für Sicherheitspolitik (Junge GSP). Additionally, this relationship was further elaborated upon during the panel discussion, #WarTok - (Social) Media as a Game-Changer in Warfare: What Kind of Warrior Are You? which was organized by the Amerikahaus together with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the Altstipendiaten der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the MSC , during which Roderich Kiesewetter MdB (Special Representative to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Control Panel), among others, talked about the relationship of social media to the spreading of information in a military and political context. This year, the Amerikahaus was the unique broadcasting venue of All Quiet on the Western Front. Together with Netflix and the MSC, the film, which has won four Academy Awards®, was screened on Saturday evening. The war epic is set during the First World War and addresses the horrors and brutality of war – a topic that is ever so relevant today due to the current and highly-publicized war in Ukraine. Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture and Media, provided a prologue to the audience before the special film screening.
Photo: Claudia Roth (Minister of State for Culture and Media) ©Martina Bogdahn
An Overview of Our Events
As part of the Munich Security Conference and the MSC Youth Hub, the Amerikahaus was again the venue for many interesting discussions this year. On Thursday, February 16, 2023, the U.S.-German Futures Forum – Data for Good: Tech Insight for Security and Democracy started off the MSC Youth Hub 2023. On Friday, February 17, 2023, debates on the war in Ukraine, misinformation and data security were continued in the events "A Perspective by the Youth: How NATO Responds to Russian Belligerence in Eastern Europe," "Debating the West's Response to Digital Information Warfare: A Call to Action in a Polarized World," "Autonomy versus Efficiency: What if the EU Sacrifices Its Dream of an Autonomous Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) For Reliable Security?" and "13th Panel of Experts on the Munich Security Conference: A New World Order? Why it Matters? The World after the War in Ukraine." The discussions and lectures of Saturday, February 18, 2023, "#WarTok - (Social) Media as a Game-Changer in Warfare: What Kind of Warrior Are You?," "The Future Role of the Bundeswehr for the German Security System in view of the National Security Strategy," "Endangered Democracies: Rethinking Stability and Cooperation through Transatlantic Values" and "Untapped Partnerships: Working Together to Harness the Potential of Youth as Promoters of Peace & Security," also offered interesting perspectives on these issues - not only from the perspective of politicians, but also from the perspectives of scholars, members of the military, and entrepreneurs. In addition, selected participants took part in the simulation "Global (In)Security: Evaluating New Security Challenges (Simulation)." To wrap up the MSC Youth Hub 2023, a special film screening of the remake of All Quiet on the Western Front was organized and presented by the Amerikahaus. Find out more about the MSC Youth Hub 2023 here.
Our Livestreams of the MSC Youth Hub 2023 for Rewatching
During the MSC Youth Hub 2023, several events took place in hybrid format. You can rewatch the livestreams of these panel discussions here.
Partners
We cordially thank all of the partners of the MSC Youth Hub 2023:
Munich Security Conference
Academic Association for Security Studies (BSH - München)
AICGS
Altstipendiaten der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
Bertelsmann Stiftung
EuropaNova Germany e.V
Federal Foreign Office
Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom
Young Transatlantic Initiative
Junge Gesellschaft für Sicherheitspolitik (Junge GSP)
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
Munich European Forum (MEF)
Netflix
Search for Common Ground
Thomas-Dehler-Stiftung
United Nations Association of Germany
U.S. Department of State
YATA Germany
YATA International
Young German Council on Foreign Relations (Young DGAP)
Young Forum of the Foreign Affairs Association
