context: The 60th Munich Security Conference took place on 16-18 February in Munich. Released before the conference, the Munich Security Report 2024 reflects on and interprets important developments in the world. The report titled 'Lose-Lose?' claims that 'there is a real risk that more and more countries end up in a lose-lose situation, which is no longer about who gains more, but only about who loses less.'
In a recent commentary, Xiao Qian 肖茜 Tsinghua University Centre for International Security and Strategy deputy director and Institute for AI International Governance vice dean discussed the Munich Security Report 2024.
Xiao claims that the report
- has a good grasp of the problems and their root causes in analysing the international situation
- is unable to provide satisfactory solutions to these problems due to the traditional security mentality and the bloc mentality
- is like a doctor who diagnosed an illness but is unable to prescribe an effective remedy
- reflects the deep anxiety of the European elites about the international situation and changes
- reflects the gradual loss of confidence in the future of the Western model and the growing concern about the decline of the West among the Western elites
- reflects the contradictory mentality of the Western academic and policy community
- on the one hand, it 'knows' that zero-sum game cannot cope with the world of the future
- on the other hand, it insists on a zero-sum mentality, distinguishing between the Atlantic states, the so-called 'like-minded states' and others, stressing that it is their order that will allow the international community to flourish
- it is the division and fragmentation caused by this kind of ganging up and differentiation between the enemy and yourself that are at the root of the global problems mentioned in the report
- gives ambiguous and contradictory recommendations to policymakers