Project Group
»Changing the Munich Security Conference« e.V.

Unsere Vision ist eine Münchner Konferenz für Friedenspolitik – Our Vision is a Munich Conference for Peace Policy

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Praying for Peace (Sat, February 15, 2025) – with the MSKv Project Group

“We pray for the participants of the Munich Security Conference, high-ranking decision-makers and opinion leaders from around the world, that they may promote peace through dialogue. We ask for God’s assistance for those who, through no fault of their own, must endure great suffering in the world’s crisis regions. Bless us, God, so that we ourselves may live in peace and become true partners for our neighbors.”

The individual prayer times are organized by religious orders, aid organizations, spiritual communities, churches of the ACK Munich, associations, and initiatives.

Date for “Prayer Chain”: Sat, February 15, 2025, 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Prayer Hour by MSKv & pax christi: Sat, February 15, 2025, 5:00 PM

Location: Bürgersaal Unterkirche, Neuhauserstraße 14, Munich

Information and further offerings for “Living Peace – Prayer for the Munich Security Conference” can be found here: Praying for Peace

Praying for Peace (Sat, February 15, 2025) – with the MSKv Project Group Read More »

Our Munich Peace Meeting 2024

The 6th Munich Peace Meeting (MPM), initiated and organized by MSKv, took place on November 29, 2024. The participants from the fields of peace science, peace movement, and peace work exchanged views with Dr. Benedikt Franke and other representatives of the MSC on current security and peace policy challenges.

Together, concrete proposals for the 2025 conference were developed. We are very excited to see what activities MSC has derived from this.

A brief report on the MPM 2024 can be found here: MPM_2024

Our Munich Peace Meeting 2024 Read More »

Thinkmail No. 45 on the MSC publication “But NATO – 10 popular myths about Putin’s war against Ukraine”

Dear friends of peace,

the Munich Security Conference (MSC) publishes well-founded publications to present the military-based foreign and security policy of the NATO states. Conference Director Christoph Heusgen pointed out to us in our last conversation the recent publication “Standard Deviation,” which deals with double standards and double morals of the “West.” And that in an astonishingly critical way for the MSC, even if the violations of the values of the UN Charter are not named with sufficient specificity.

The publication “But NATO – 10 popular myths about Putin’s war against Ukraine” is quite different, both in terms of presentation and content. It is probably intended to be a kind of polemic against the myths and conspiracy theories of extremists and populists, who bring these up in “the emotionally charged discussions.” According to the authors, politics and the public are “not yet practiced in dealing with war,” hence the “Zeitenwende on tour” campaign, for whose accompaniment this publication was written.

To ensure that this practice in dealing with war is as effective as possible, the publication uses a clear black-and-white representation: Each of the 10 myth claims is dualistically opposed to what is correct. One and a half pages of clarification with assertions and also emotional statements are sufficient for this, all with little and questionable reference to sources (e.g. newspaper articles). It seems that it is that simple!

The fact that a war always has extremely complex backgrounds, a conflict genesis that is often not even historically worked through, and that a schematic friend-enemy scheme is unsuitable without considering multi-layered influencing factors and different actors, seems actually trivial. Especially in a conflict that is related to the constellation of nuclear world powers. The meanwhile dominant “Zeitenwende narrative,” constantly repeated by Western politics and the media, therefore by no means represents the irrefutable truth and can equally be regarded as a myth.

At the MSC, an in-depth discussion of these connections, fact-based and with rational argumentation and with the inclusion of different points of view, would have to be conducted in order to counter the myths of any provenance.

What do you think? Do you think such a discussion makes sense? We look forward to hearing your opinion!

With peaceful greetings
Erwin Schelbert

Thinkmail No. 45 on the MSC publication “But NATO – 10 popular myths about Putin’s war against Ukraine” Read More »

We mourn the passing of Mechthild Schreiber, the honorary chairwoman of our association.

 

 

 

Mechthild Schreiber was very closely associated with our association from the very beginning, even though she was not among the founding members.

At the general meeting on 2015-03-27, she was formally admitted as a member, and at the general meeting on 2017-03-27, she was elected to the association’s board. She then served on the board without interruption until the general meeting on 2024-04-13, where she was unanimously elected honorary chairwoman of the association.

Among her many important contributions to our association, I would like to mention just a few of her most recent ones: For the celebration of the 20th anniversary of our first “Call for a Change in the Security Conference” in April 2024, she played a significant role in the preparation and also moderated the event. Most recently, in July 2024, we were able to meet at her home for a pleasant evening of political discussions on her terrace. A few days ago, Mechthild passed away at the age of 94 – quite suddenly and unexpectedly for us.

Mechthild was – with her sociology studies and her intensive engagement with women’s research and feminism – a clever and widely informed woman. We lose a very credible pacifist, a courageous and upright fighter for the cause of peace. Her dedicated contributions will be greatly missed!

In February 2021, Mechthild wrote in one of her regular contributions to our annual project newspaper – which she had also very credibly presented in a conversation with MSC Conference Director W. Ischinger:
“I know what war means, as I experienced it painfully as a child: the wailing of sirens that tore us from our sleep, the thunder of the FLAK, the anti-aircraft guns, the anxious hours in the cellar during air raids: will it hit us this time? Or will we still escape? The incendiary bombs that one night actually destroyed our apartment in Berlin, the familiar home of my childhood; the loss of my father, who never returned from a trip to our pastor, and whose abduction and death in a Polish prisoner-of-war camp my mother and I only learned about two years later… For many years, the people said: ‘Never again war!’ And today it can only mean: ‘Si vis pacem para pacem!’ If you want peace, prepare for peace!”

Further information on Mechthild’s life and commitment can be found via the following links:

In memoriam Mechthild Schreiber, Peace Activist

forumZFD – Farewell to a Peace Fighter

Listen persistently

Cultural regulars’ table with Mechthild Schreiber

The members of the “Changing the Munich Security Conference” Project Group e.V. will always fondly remember their long-standing chairwoman and honorary chairwoman Mechthild Schreiber.

Mechthild, we will miss you!

Munich, 2024-10-11

Thomas Mohr
Chairman

We mourn the passing of Mechthild Schreiber, the honorary chairwoman of our association. Read More »

06/25/2024: Thought Mail No. 42 – “War always begins in the minds”

Dear Colleagues,

If this statement is true, then the rapidly increasing militarization, as is happening worldwide, most recently at the Munich Security Conference, is certainly not the path to a peaceful future. Only jointly negotiated peace in all conflicts can establish true peace and thus security. How can this pacifism finally find its way into our thinking?

A thought experiment: Let’s just imagine that the Gaza war, with its boundless destruction and the unbearable loss of tens of thousands of human lives, is forever the last war between Israel and the Palestinians!

With international support, both peoples learn together to overcome the deep hatred (in projects such as Combatants for Peace, Rabbis for Human Rights, dialogue project Transaidancy), thereby perceiving the other, above all, in their pain as a human being. The traumatic experiences of Shoah and Nakba can become a bridge for each other.

“If you feel pain, you are alive. If you feel the pain of the other, you are human.”
(by Osama Ellewat, Combatants for Peace).

Because – according to Jeremy Milgram, Rabbis for Human Rights – “the only way to secure peace is to share it with others.” Perhaps it is now truly a radical act, after October 7, for Jews and Palestinians to approach each other, shake hands, and embark on the path to a peaceful future by beginning an extremely arduous reconciliation process.

At the same time, justice, human rights, and international law must become the fundamental principle: An upgraded UN as a protective body for all of humanity would stand for this strength of law (instead of the violence of the stronger).

Radical thinking? In any case, a challenging, courageous task.

However, a peace agenda of this kind probably requires an MSC with new content and different participants!

What do you think?

In solidarity
Christoph Steinbrink
Guest author for MSKv

06/25/2024: Thought Mail No. 42 – “War always begins in the minds” Read More »

06/25/2024: Update on the disruption of our website

Dear MSKv stakeholders,
our website may have fallen victim to a hacking attack.
Unfortunately, the current status of the stored database could not be restored.
We are forced to restart with an outdated version (January 2024). All
contributions and information recorded and published since then have been lost.
We will spend the next days and weeks presenting the current status
as quickly and completely as possible.
Until then, we ask for your continued patience and understanding.

Your
Project Group Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz verändern e.V.

06/25/2024: Update on the disruption of our website Read More »

November 13, 2023: “Defensive Without Weapons Through Social Defense” – A Topic for the Munich Security Conference?

For us, being defensive without weapons means that our environment should be socially defended. Social defense should enable people to resist violence from within and without using all means of non-violent resistance.
We want to demonstrate how powerful organized, non-violent resistance can be, and how it can even be more successful than military actions. Especially in times of senseless wars with thousands of dead, injured, insane destruction, and terrible suffering, the Security Conference should actually address real “human security” and thus social defense.

The Project Group “Changing the Munich Security Conference” e.V. invites you to a discussion as part of the Munich Peace Weeks 2023:

When? Monday, November 13, 2023, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Where? Eine-Welt-Haus, Room 111/112, Schwanthalerstr. 80 (Theresienwiese subway station)
Flyer for printing and sharing: Information Sheet November 13

Admission is free.

November 13, 2023: “Defensive Without Weapons Through Social Defense” – A Topic for the Munich Security Conference? Read More »

November 10, 2023: 5th Munich Peace Meeting

On the initiative of the project group ‘Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz verändern’ e.V. and with the participation of the Munich Security Conference team, a Munich Peace Meeting has been held annually since 2019 as a non-public expert discussion.

The Munich Peace Meeting (MPM) has developed into an important event where
– peace research, peace work, the peace movement, and the MSC connect,
– an in-depth expert exchange on aspects of security and peace policy takes place,
– concrete suggestions for the upcoming MSC each February regarding topics, guests, and formats can emerge.

For the fifth Munich Peace Meeting, representatives of the “peace community,” the MSC, and others met on November 10, 2023, at the Catholic Academy in Munich-Schwabing for an exchange in a “space of shared reflection.” After being held three times in video format, we were able to meet in person again, allowing for a more open space for encounter. We thereby built upon the original idea of a spontaneous exchange of creative ideas. The MPM 2023, regardless of its direct impact on the upcoming MSC, was intended to have inherent value as a shared space for reflection and foresight by experts with diverse positions and to make a small contribution to building trust within society. In the afternoon, impulses for the next MSC were developed in small groups.

Moderation:
Dipl.-Psych., Dipl.-Theol. Martin Pröstler, Psychological Psychotherapist, Group Analyst, OrgWerk, Munich Dr., Dipl.-Psych. Vera Kattermann, Psychological Psychotherapist, Group Analyst, Berlin

The Munich Peace Meeting 2023 was supported by:
Department of Arts and Culture – State Capital Munich
Köhler Foundation
Katholischer Fonds
The MSC provided the venue and catering.

A short report on the Munich Peace Meeting 2023 by Anja Ufermann can be found here:
Project Newspaper No. 19 – Page 2 bottom

November 10, 2023: 5th Munich Peace Meeting Read More »

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