Munich Security Conference

The Munich Security Conference (MSC), formerly Munich Conference on Security Policy, is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Germany, since 1963. It is the world's largest gathering of its kind. Over the past four decades the Munich Security Conference has become the most important independent forum for the exchange of views by international security policy decision-makers. Each year it brings together about 800 senior figures from more than 100 countries around the world to engage in an intensive debate on current and future security challenges. The list of attendees includes heads of states, governments and international organizations, ministers, members of parliament, high-ranking representatives of armed forces, science, civil society, as well as business and media. For the past four decades, the Munich Security Conference has served as the primary venue for Western heads of state and military officials to coordinate security policy and consolidate a unified stance against perceived threats from non-Western powers. The conference is held annually in February. The venues are Hotel Bayerischer Hof and Rosewood Munich in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.