{"id":37953,"date":"2026-02-15T11:27:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T00:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.internationalaffairs.org.au\/?post_type=news-item&#038;p=37953"},"modified":"2026-02-26T14:51:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T03:51:19","slug":"aiia-convenes-indo-pacific-security-dialogue-at-munich-security-conference","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/www.internationalaffairs.org.au\/national-news\/aiia-convenes-indo-pacific-security-dialogue-at-munich-security-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"AIIA Convenes Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue at Munich Security Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>MUNICH &#8211; The Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) partnered with the Munich Security Conference (MSC) to host a panel on <em>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/securityconference.org\/en\/msc-2026\/public-events\/msc-2026-public-events\/?tx_dreipcmsclivestream_event%5Baction%5D=show&amp;tx_dreipcmsclivestream_event%5Bcontroller%5D=Event&amp;tx_dreipcmsclivestream_event%5Bevent%5D=420&amp;cHash=53e18da013f338e80d54ff571bbdc539\">Minilateralism and Security in the Indo-Pacific<\/a>\u201d<\/em> at the Public Square in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. The discussion was one of a number of events at this year\u2019s conference to focus on the Indo-Pacific, within a gathering otherwise primarily centred on the transatlantic relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Opening the panel, AIIA National Executive Director Dr Bryce Wakefield set the strategic context from an Australian perspective, emphasising the growing importance of flexible, issue-based \u201cminilateral\u201d arrangements in responding to shared security challenges. His remarks followed an article he had published days earlier in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/brycewakefield_a-pleasure-to-publish-a-piece-in-the-nzz-activity-7428328933248585728-dL6f?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAADOJVYBBrlOF_bwkpcJB96Oa9uxM_XMcYM\">Neue Z\u00fcrcher Zeitung<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the panel, Dr Wakefield noted that while debate in Munich centred heavily on strains in US\u2013Europe relations, \u201cthe rift in trans-Atlantic relations was not quite the situation on our side of the world.\u201d Stressing the difference between typical Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security frameworks, he underscored that the latter remain grounded in practical cooperation between middle powers whose foreign policies differ greatly, even amid intensifying geopolitical competition between larger countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr Wakefield was joined by Ambika Vishwanath (Kubernein Initiative and La Trobe University), who highlighted the environmental dimensions of security and India\u2019s expanding engagement in the South Pacific; Malaysia\u2019s National Security Advisor, Raja Dato\u2019 Nushirwan Bin Zainal Abidin, who provided a Southeast Asian perspective; and Bertil Wenger (CDU), who offered a German response. The panel was moderated by Latika M Bourke of <em>The Nightly<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Engagement Across the Conference<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reflecting on his first attendance at MSC, Dr Wakefield described it as \u201ca very stimulating experience,\u201d observing that \u201ceveryone\u2019s experience at this conference is unique.\u201d He characterised the conference as operating across \u201cthree main layers\u2014the main speeches that are widely broadcast around the world, a dazzling smorgasbord of side events of all shapes and sizes, and separate bilateral meetings that you put together yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added that beyond the formal program, \u201cthe opportunity to engage with key decision makers and the chance meetings in hallways\u201d were among the most valuable aspects of the event, allowing him to connect with both new counterparts and longstanding colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr Wakefield also participated in the 20th Transatlantic Forum of the Christian Social Union (CSU), which featured European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Bavarian Minister-President Dr Markus S\u00f6der, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, and senior US lawmakers. He recently examined Minister Wadephul\u2019s visit to the Pacific in an article for the <em>Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Discussions on the margins of the conference included informal discussions with Chair of the European Parliament\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee David McAllister and EU Rapporteur on Australia \u017deljana Zovko on Australian foreign policy and EU\u2013Australia relations, as well as a brief hallway exchange on EU-Australia relations with President von der Leyen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Transatlantic Debate in Focus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Debate over the future of US\u2013Europe relations featured prominently at MSC. While some participants said they felt reassured by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2019s address, Dr Wakefield observed that others \u201cfelt it was the same content as JD Vance\u2019s criticism in a softer tone,\u201d adding, \u201cI tend to agree with the latter view.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He suggested that \u201chistory will likely find\u201d German opposition leader Friedrich Merz\u2019s speech\u2014emphasising the rift between the US and Europe and calling on Europe to recognise the new reality\u2014more consequential. He similarly pointed to von der Leyen\u2019s stress on the European Union\u2019s common defence mechanism as significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr Wakefield also highlighted California Governor Gavin Newsom\u2019s \u201ccontinued clarity of the need for world leaders to call out the deficiencies of the Trump administration,\u201d and described French President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s remarks as among the strongest delivered at the conference, even if \u201ctypically Macron,\u201d for their insistence on Europe standing up for itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indo-Pacific leaders contributed to the discussion as well. Dr Wakefield welcomed Australia\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles\u2019 pushback \u201con the notion that rules are no longer observed in this world\u201d and his indication that he was \u201ccomfortable\u201d with the US administration\u2019s Indo-Pacific approach. He also noted Japan\u2019s Shinjir\u014d Koizumi\u2019s reassertion of the strength of the US\u2013Japan alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to conference activities, Dr Wakefield visited the Bavarian Finance Ministry and held further meetings with German counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AIIA\u2019s participation at the Munich Security Conference reflects its ongoing commitment to fostering dialogue between Australia, Europe and the Indo-Pacific at a time of significant geopolitical change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MUNICH &#8211; The Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) partnered with the Munich Security Conference (MSC) to host a panel on \u201cMinilateralism and Security in the Indo-Pacific\u201d at the Public [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":37955,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[],"news-item-type":[4373,8389],"region":[],"class_list":["post-37953","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-item-type-aiia-national-office","news-item-type-international-interaction"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AIIA Convenes Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue at Munich Security Conference - Australian Institute of International Affairs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.internationalaffairs.org.au\/national-news\/aiia-convenes-indo-pacific-security-dialogue-at-munich-security-conference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AIIA Convenes Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue at Munich Security Conference - Australian Institute of International Affairs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MUNICH &#8211; 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