Crashing Valentine's: Power, Peace & Security at MSC
14 February 2025
The Late Edition: Kicking Off in the Belly of Global Security
Valentine’s Day in Munich. Romantic? Not quite. the G7 and NATO leaders are all here talking about peace & security, purportedly. In reality its more like the rejigging of the global political order in 2025.
JD Vance’s speech hasn’t gone down well. But let’s cut him some slack. We’ve all realised from how he is with Usha, the man is quite awkward in his love language.
But in all seriousness - the question dominating much of the discussions at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) and the Munich Cybersecurity Conference - Do Europeans really trust the Americans with our data, our intelligence anymore? The whispers are getting louder… “less and less so!”
5 Brutal Truths from the Belly of Global Security
1️⃣ Germany’s Election Meltdown
• Nothing like a violent attack days before an election to send a country into political chaos. The far-right AfD is seizing the moment, pushing its anti-immigrant agenda, while everyone else scrambles to contain the fallout. Welcome to Germany’s worst election headache yet.
2️⃣ Trump’s Foreign Policy: Out with Europe, In with Chaos
• U.S. priorities? Not here. Trump’s team made it clear: Ukraine should start accepting reality (aka land loss), NATO expansion is dead, and China is the real obsession. Oh, and he called Putin for a surprise chat, because why not blindside America’s allies at a security conference?
3️⃣ Ukraine? What Ukraine?
• Ukraine’s fight for survival just got lonelier. Trump’s people are all but telling Kyiv to take a hike, and European leaders are watching their worst nightmare unfold in real time. Meanwhile, NATO’s Mark Rutte is out here trying to prove Europe can still defend itself—good luck with that.
4️⃣ The Global South Isn’t Buying It
• Munich loves to call itself the world’s security HQ, but let’s be real—it’s been a transatlantic club for decades. This year? More voices from Africa, Asia, and Latin America demanding to know why the system still works against them. The old guard is uncomfortable.
5️⃣ NATO’s Existential Crisis, Part 1001
• It’s like a telenovela playing out in real time. U.S. Democrats have rushed to reaffirm their NATO love, while Republicans… have not. Trump is floating the idea of Russia rejoining the G7 (because sure, let’s go full 2014), leaving Europe wondering if it needs a Plan B before Washington fully ghosts.
Bottom Line: The Munich Security Conference is once again serving up its signature dish—panic, power plays, and the existential question - “How do we work together in a multipolar world” — The Chief Brief is doing what it does best—stirring things up.
Welcome to The Late Edition:
Our first-ever event that we’re hosting on Valentine’s night during the Munich Security Conference & Munich Cybersecurity Conference.
And no it isn'‘t another panel. Lord no!
Not another echo chamber. Definitely not!
We’re bringing together a different kind of power over wine and chocolates —women who actually get things done from across sectors and across the world.
Why? Because let’s cut the nonsense: Women aren’t just missing from global security conversations—we’re actively being pushed out.
• Trust in women leaders in the West? Dropping. (Thanks, Michelle Harrison & Verian, for the depressing receipts.)
• Women in global peace negotiations? 12%.
• Women in the security workforce? Less than 25%.
• Women in CEO roles? A rare sighting—though Africa and Asia are leading the charge.
And sure, progress is happening—Russell Reynolds says we’re only 72.5 years away from gender parity in CEO positions now. (Wow, pop the champagne.) In fairness, that number drops dramatically in places like the DAX 40 (34 years) and FTSE 100 (39 years). Meanwhile, in other markets? You might as well settle in for another century of waiting. The graph below should give you a good giggle:
The problem isn’t competence. It’s access. And frankly, if I hear one more exec say, “We tried to find a qualified woman, but we couldn’t,” I might just scream.
The Opportunity: AI & Cybersecurity Are Up for Grabs
Munich’s big buzzwords this year? AI and cybersecurity. Deepseek, Trump, and his internet-crowned co-President have made that crystal clear. But women? Nowhere near the top of that food chain.
Which is ridiculous, considering the massive shift happening in tech leadership. Investors are ditching underperforming “growth-at-all-costs” CEOs and replacing them with leaders who actually understand sustainable growth. CEO turnover in tech? Up 90% year-over-year.
So why aren’t recruiters tapping into the insanely qualified women already waiting in the wings? Unlike traditional industries where CFOs morph into CEOs like clockwork, tech is all about adaptability, customer focus, and strategy. You know, the things women in leadership do naturally.
Changing the Narrative—Because “Lean In” was clearly a bad plan
The old “women’s leadership” conversations? (For example, the pregnant & taking a company public flex) Not cutting it.
Pay equity demands? Still not enough.
Fighting for more seats at the table? Pointless, if it’s just the same 10 women with great PR teams.
And honestly, when younger women are only discussed in the context of “flexible work and childcare” and older women are reduced to “menopause” stories, we’ve officially been boxed in.
Of course, these issues matter. The system is rigged, women’s health is underfunded, and we’re all drowning in unpaid/invisible labor. But the extremes of “woe is me” or “superwoman” have backfired. The backlash is real. And corporations like Accenture are rolling back diversity efforts to play nice with the incoming political powers, under the shiny new buzzword: “meritocracy.” (Looking at you, Julie Sweet).
(I’m still scratching my head about Meritocracy - according to whom? I assume billionaires with armies of nannies and housekeepers. Looking at you, Sheryl.)
If we let the “women & DEI are just a checkbox” crowd control the story, we lose. DEI is such an American acronym any way, with little resonance elsewhere in the world. Here’s the epiphany I’ve frankly had over the past year or so - Ditch the acronym and the tired storytelling style and focus on the crux of what matters - expertise. Ladies (and our fantastic allies), we need to take the narrative back.
Enter: The Late Edition
Where better to start a little revolution than in the most macho security environment imaginable—MSC? (Call it masochism. Call it ambition. Both apply.)
This isn’t about more talk. It’s about expertise, strategy, and impact. Because the women that do, only care about those three things.
We’ve teamed up with Vodafone to tackle everything from undersea cables to cybersecurity, and are supported bySME Global (because women power small businesses worldwide) and the UN World Food Programme’s Innovation Accelerator.
And the lineup? Pure fire.
• Nobel Laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk & the Nobel Women’s Initiative
• Ukraine’s digital mastermind Valeriya Ionan
• Europe’s climate chief Laurence Tubiana
• Former UNGA President & climate warrior María Fernanda Espinosa
• Arancha González (ex-Spanish Finance Minister, now Sciences Po Dean)
• Victoria Coleman (Acubed CEO, Airbus Head of Research & Tech, ex-US Air Force Chief Scientist)
• Human rights heavyweight Bill Browder (yes, we love our allies!)
• Cybersecurity boss Prof. Gabi Dreo Rodosek
• Amundi’s geopolitics chief Anna Rosenberg
• NATO’s Irene Fellin
• UN Climate Commissioner Hina Rabbani Khar
• WPL Chair Obiageli Ezekwesili
• Oxford’s Blavatnik School Dean Ngaire Woods
… and more.
We’re Done with the Blah Blah. It’s Time to Shift the Story.
This is just the start. The next edition of Chief Brief will be bigger, bolder, and packed with insights from the powerhouses we’re bringing together.
What do we do if the world tries to close the doors for women, and women in leadership?
We’ll just kick them down.