Western dreams of world order hit a wall at 2016 Munich Security Conference

Two views of global order hit a wall at this year’s Munich Security Conference (MSC), a global forum on security policy, said Thorsten Benner during a panel discussion at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin on February 15. According to Benner, many transatlantic decision-makers have failed to see that neither the liberal institutionalist approach nor John McCain’s vision of ​“Western supremacy” – both of which dominated the discourse at MSC 2016 – appeal to influential players like Russia and China. Benner said realizing the promise of human security and the Responsibility to Protect in the face of geopolitical fights is an increasingly tough challenge.