Transnational Security Initiative

Transnational security threats – such as trafficking in drugs, arms, and people, nuclear proliferation, the spread of terrorism and piracy – are cross-border phenomena that concern both international and domestic security policy.

About the Transnational Security Initiative

From drugs, arms and tobacco smuggling to money laundering and human trafficking — illicit cross-border flows and activities provide the fuel for protracted conflict economies, extremist movements and kleptocratic regimes. In short, crime keeps conflicts running and illicit forces in power. If one is to make progress in ending wars, countering violent extremism and driving back kleptocratic regimes and malignant actors, one needs to dry up their financial basis by tackling illicit flows and combating corruption. While current efforts are yet to show significant effects, the advent of the Biden Administration offers new chances to develop a transatlantic approach and bring the entire economic, political, and intelligence power of the Western world to bear on this issue.

The MSC initiative on transnational security will combine various formats, from intimate off-the-record dinner discussions to high-level roundtables around the world. The events will offer valuable opportunities for visibility, thought leadership, and networking. Each event offers a unique platform for engagement with decision-makers and national officials at the highest levels, policy experts, media representatives, and the broader policy community on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world.

Summits, Roundtables, and other Activities

As part of the Transnational Security Series, the MSC organizes numerous events, which vary in size.

MSC Roundtables are intimate, off-the-record gatherings of no more than 40 participants, taking place throughout the year at the sidelines of high-level international events around the world. The topics of discussion reflect current debates and challenges to transnational security and attract high-ranking representatives from governments, academia, militaries, the private sector, and civil society.

In addition to the events specifically dedicated to the topic of transnational security threats, transnational security issues play an important role in all MSC activities. The MSC stages panel discussions as well as a growing number of side events on transnational security issues at the annual flagship conference in Munich and at the MSC's Core Group Meetings. Both the Core Group Meeting in Minsk in 2018 and the Munich Security Conference 2019 featured roundtables on transnational threats. Further, the MSC covers transnational security in its publications, with a chapter on transnational organized crime in the 2019 edition of the annual Munich Security Report, and its new Transnational Security Report "Cooperating Across Borders: Tackling Illicit Flows".

Past Events

Transnational Security Roundtable in Munich (2020)

Titled “Trading Violence: Conflict Economies in the Sahel and Beyond,” the Transnational Security Roundtable at the Munich Security Conference 2020 dealt with illicit flows in conflict settings. Co-hosted with PMI Impact, Knowledge Partner of the MSC’s Transnational Security Series, the off-the-record roundtable brought together 40 policy-makers and academic experts from various national, regional, and international levels.

Following on-the-record opening statements by Abdalla Hamdok, Prime Minister of the Republic of the Sudan, and Michèle Coninsx, UN Assistant Secretary General and Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, participants discussed the interconnection between illicit economies and conflict.

Economic activity often takes on an informal character during conflict, helping communities to cope while other options are not available. However, so-called conflict economies can also evolve to incentivize the continuation of conflict, thus creating spoilers to peace. Speakers pointed out that the drivers towards illicit activities are actually similar across the world, rather than just limited to conflict regions, and stressed the need for cooperation across sectors and borders to address the challenge.

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