Munich Security Conference: What American Policy Should Deliver
The Munich Security Conference comes at a consequential moment for U.S. security planning and the future of the Western alliance. Leaders there will make choices that shape deterrence, readiness, and the credibility of promises we make to partners. This is not a forum for vague statements; it is where policy gets tested against reality.
Delegates will focus on three hard realities: sustaining support for Ukraine, countering coercive behavior by rivals, and shoring up critical supply chains. Those are separate issues but they all feed into one central question: can the West act together and act decisively? If the answer is no, the consequences will be strategic, economic, and human.
From a Republican perspective the answer starts with strength. That means robust deterrence, clear defense budgets, and deployments that match rhetoric. Showing resolve matters more than issuing the thousandth statement of concern.
Burden sharing must be demanded and enforced, not begged for. European partners need to move beyond promises and deliver capabilities, munitions stockpiles, and forward forces that reduce pressure on American shoulders. Energy security is a key part of this equation because dependence invites coercion and undermines political will.
Technology and cyber defense should be central to the agenda rather than an afterthought. Investment in resilient semiconductor production, secure communications, and defensive cyber operations preserves strategic freedom of action. Economic tools like smart sanctions and export controls are useful only if paired with domestic industry that can sustain long campaigns.
Diplomacy works best when backed by capability, not wishful thinking. We should negotiate from positions of relative strength and be clear about red lines, especially on issues like territorial aggression and interference in free elections. Appeasement only invites more aggressive behavior and chips away at alliance cohesion.
U.S. planners should walk into Munich with a practical checklist: commit to durable military readiness, lock in allied procurement plans, and coordinate sanctions regimes that can be maintained without fracturing partnership. They should insist on measurable steps from allies, not vague pledges that disappear when budgets tighten. This is a moment to align words with forces, and to make sure the West can defend what it values without depending on hope.