Geopolitics

At Munich summit, a focus on democracy versus autocracy

Human rights has become "a major flashpoint in the growing systemic competition" between competing ideologies and governance systems, according to the summit's annual report.

, and John Heilprin

February 13, 2023 . 5:03 PM

3 min read

Hotel Bayerischer Hof where the 2023 Munich Security Conference is being held (AN/Sabrina Weisser)

Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago inevitably overshadows the Munich Security Conference, which warns that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has made the clash of competing visions a brutal and deathly reality."

In its annual report on Monday, the world's self-described leading forum for debating international security policy noted Russia's full-scale assault on its neighbor has not only caused tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties, forced millions to flee their homes and inflicted massive war damages.