Munich Security Conference Breakfast session
Livestream available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTDhf-8moaM
In cooperation with the German Foreign Office and the BMW Foundation, we organised this breakfast session at the BMW Energy Security Hub on 13 February at the Munich Security Conference 2026.
The event featured two of our Geostrategic Europe Taskforce Chairpeople, Olivia Lazard and Jonathan Barth, alongside Chairman of the Board of Siemens Energy (and former CEO of Siemens) Joe Käser and State Secretary in the German Foreign Office Dr. Bernhard Kotsch.
Power politics is back and geoeconomics is the talk of the town. As global rules are challenged and the free trade order fades, Europe risks becoming a rule - taker on trade, AI, energy, and critical resources.
This conversation examines what a credible European offer to the world must look like to restore geostrategic agency: modernising Europe’s (power) toolkit and forging global partnerships beyond NATO and the G7 to shape the next global order. In an era of tariffs, transactional behavior and weaponised interdependence, Europe must work with other global and regional powers to avoid being trapped in superpower rivalry.
Evolving from a peace and economic project to a fully - fledged geostrategic actor, Europe must promote partnerships that foster resilience to geo - economic coercion, hybrid threats and energy choke - points, crafting agreements where trade, critical mineral extraction and the development of future markets work for mutual benefit and strengthen sovereignty.
Which strategies, instruments and partnerships need to be developed to navigate new uncertainties in the age of geoeconomics.
Speakers
Jonathan BARTH, Executive Chair, Geostrategic Europe Taskforce, Delors Institute Paris
Joe KAESER, Chairman of the Board, Siemens Energy
Dr. Bernhard KOTSCH, State Secretary, Federal Foreign Ministry, Germany
Olivia LAZARD, Fellow, Berggruen Institute, Los Angeles