At this year’s Munich Security Conference, global leaders confronted a world increasingly defined by war in Ukraine, rising China–US rivalry, and deepening fractures within the transatlantic alliance. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a softer tone toward Europe, even as underlying tensions over burden-sharing and the future of the postwar order remained unresolved. jake laravia Meanwhile, Taiwan—though rarely named explicitly—hovered at the center of strategic anxieties, framed as a potential flashpoint ligne bleue du métro de montréal in an emerging era of big-power politics. Are we witnessing the erosion of the rules-based international order? In this episode, we examine shifting US–Europe dynamics, China’s courtship of European capitals, ambiguous signals on Taiwan, and what the Munich gathering reveals about the future global security landscape.
*Recorded on February 26, 2026 at 2pm Taiwan Standard Time
Host: Wen-Ti Sung
Producer: Tina Hsu
Our guests:
Chieh-Ting Yeh
- Farron, Augustine & Alexander Venture Partner and US Taiwan Watch Board Director
Andrew Yeh
- China Strategic Risks Institute Executive Director
Chapters:
00:00:00 – Munich Forum Highlights Shifting World Power
00:01:47 – Is the US Softening Its Approach to Europe?
00:09:52 – Merz: Rules-Based International System Is Over
00:16:11 – Is US Showing ‘Tough Love’ towards Taiwan?
#InternationalRelations #MSC2026 #MunichSecurityConference #GlobalSecurity #Geopolitics #InternationalRelations #RulesBasedOrder #UnderDestruction #MultipolarWorld #SecurityPolicy #WorldPolitics #MunichSecurityReport #Diplomacy #GlobalStability #GreatPowerRivalry #NewWorldOrder cillian murphy #ForeignPolicy #BilateralTies #StrategicAnalysis #GeopoliticalShift #MunichSecurityConference2026 #MarcoRubio #SecretaryOfState #AmericaFirst #TransatlanticAlliance #USForeignPolicy #NATO30 #USandEurope #WesternCivilization #ElbridgeColby #UnderSecretaryOfDefense #StrategicResponsibility #ToughLove #USCongress #TrumpAdministration #FlexibleRealism #USDiplomacy #TransatlanticRift #SecurityCommitment #DefenseCooperation #USMilitary #FriedrichMerz #GermanChancellor #Merz #Bundeskanzler #EuropeanSovereignty #ProgramOfFreedom #GermanForeignPolicy #NATO #EuropeanDefense #EUSecurity #TransatlanticTrust #SecuritySovereignty #EuropePillar #MunichForum #StrategicAutonomy #DefenseSpending #WangYi #ChinaForeignMinister #TaiwanStrait #CrossStraitRelations #ChinaPolicy #TaiwanSecurity #IndoPacificStrategy #USChinaRelations #RedLine #OneChinaPolicy #TaiwanStatusQuo #Beijing #SouthChinaSea #GlobalGovernance #ChinaDiplomacy #EastAsianSecurity #TaiwanPlus #TaiwanTalks
