The MSC 2025 came at a pivotal moment of change: a new US administration took office in January, a new cycle of European legislature in Brussels and German parliamentary elections followed just one week after the conference.

After an opening by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on February 14, hundreds of decision-makers and opinion leaders from different regions of the world discussed the world’s security policy challenges under the chairmanship of Christoph Heusgen.

On Friday, the conference’s main program started with a focus on global security challenges, including global governance, democratic resilience, climate security, and many more topics. On Saturday, debates took place on the state of the international order as well as regional conflicts and crises. The future of the transatlantic partnership was also a focus of the second day of the conference. On Sunday, the conference wraped up with discussions on Europe’s role in the world.

The MSC 2025 once again served as a marketplace for ideas and created space for as many relevant and consequential debates as possible. As in previous years, the conference’s program consisted of three parts: the main program curated by the MSC, around 200 official side events, and dozens of public outreach events. The day before the conference, the Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany, Jörg Kukies, brought together ministers and high representatives from international institutions for the 4th No Money for Terror Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing.

At the end of the third and last conference day, Jens Stoltenberg succeeded Christoph Heusgen as the new Chair of the MSC.