Munich Security Conference 2025 – Vance plays the Mafia boss and what does it mean for European Security?
Plus Jane's photojournalism of the conference and conversations with Zelenskyy's chief of staff, the former Bulgarian defence minister, and the head of special projects at ISS
Munich Security Conference 2025 – What does it mean for European Security?
In Munich last weekend, J.D. Vance shocked Europe as he played the mafia boss with his speech castigating Europeans as having the ‘wrong values’ and not being ‘democratic’. Meanwhile, Trump and co. are doing ‘the very democratic thing’ by being in Saudi Arabia and negotiating with Putin over Ukraine behind Zelenskyy’s back – possibly presaging ‘a deal’ that will be struck excluding Ukrainian input altogether.
(Listen to this episode on Apple podcasts here; and on Spotify here)
Jane plays photojournalist capturing a stately John Kerry looking fluxxomed
As this episode drops, European leaders are finally trying to get out in front of events by meeting in Paris in an emergency summit, to counter with their own ‘peace proposal’ that would actually be beneficial for Ukraine’s future. Disorderly much?
As Europeans debate carrying more of the burden of defense spending… Jane captures this very clever canvas bag
In this episode of Disorder, Jane Kinninmont tries to navigate these complexities in conversation with Jason Pack, as she brings us her personal reportage from last weekend’s Munich Security Conference.
(Listen to this episode on Apple podcasts here; and on Spotify here)
During her visit there, we hear three on-the-spot interviews (Serhiy Leschenko, advisor to Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak; Todor Tagarev, former Bulgarian defence minister; and Ottilia Anna Maunganidze, head of special projects at the Institute of Security Studies) - discussing the shifting dynamics of US-European relations, the implications of Trump 2.0 on the Ukraine conflict, and the urgent need for Europe to reassess its defense priorities in light of potential US unpredictability. Plus: in an attempt to Order the Disorder, what can be done to foster unity among European nations?
(Listen to this episode on Apple podcasts here; and on Spotify here)
Or if you just wanna soak in the vibe of doing the mega-ordering Ukraine supporting thing check out Jane’s photo essay below:
Jane poses for a selfie with one of East Europeans top defenders
And she eats very Bavarian looking Pretzels
And records this poignant video of an exhibition about Ukraine’s future
And has really mastered the influencer game with these stone lions
So now that you feel like you’ve experienced ‘being at’ the Munich Security Conference why not read some expert analysis about its significance from RUSI:
Read more from RUSI: by Jack Watling ‘US Clarity Underscores Ukraine’s Peril’, https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/us-clarity-underscores-ukraines-peril
Also by Jack but in the Guardian: ‘As the US walks away, Europe needs to step up for Ukraine. But does it have the will?’, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/16/us-europe-ukraine-russia-peace-analysis
And from Neil Melvin (our guest on our March 11 live recording) ‘Securing Ukraine is the UK’s Challenge, but It Needs to be Done Right’, https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/securing-ukraine-uks-challenge-it-needs-be-done-right
And For more on Jane’s interviewees on the pod and their outputs:
Serhiy Leschenko, advisor to Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak - https://x.com/leshchenkos?lang=en
Todor Tagarev, former Bulgarian defence minister: his bio here - https://europeanleadershipnetwork.org/person/todor-tagarev/
And see his recent ECFR piece “prepare for the worst - four scenarios for Ukraine under Trump 2.0” -https://ecfr.eu/article/prepare-for-the-worst-four-scenarious-for-ukraine-under-trump-2-0/
Ottilia Anna Maunganidze, head of special projects at the Institute of Security Studies, headquartered in South Africa with offices in Senegal, Kenya and Ethiopia - https://issafrica.org/author/ottilia-anna-maunganidze
Key Quotes from Jane
1: Europeans now need to think about what the defence of Europe looks like if there is a scenario where the US withdraws. A little while ago I spoke to someone who was a diplomat in D. C. for a European country when Trump was elected first time round and they said they'd had a discussion internally about whether they should do some analysis about what their security would look like if the U. S. wasn't supporting them anymore and if the U. S. pulled out of NATO and they were told, well, we can't possibly do that analysis. That won't happen. So, even if it's not going to happen, even if people don't want to think it's going to happen, All of these things need to be contemplated.
2: This Munich Security Conference has given Europeans a greater sense of clarity and urgency about the need to see how Europe can function and stay secure and peaceful, even if the U.S. is extremely unpredictable and facing quite a lot of internal disruption. But that is going to take quite a long time also to play out because The European defence and security establishments in all these countries have relied on a certain version of the US, which is now in question. So it's a really deep rethink, and I think the future is still quite unclear. So I heard so many people saying, Europeans should have been ready. Why weren't we ready? We've got to get ready now.