LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Let's head now to Munich. And I want you to picture a hotel ballroom brimming with presidents and prime ministers, diplomats and spies. You can think of the Munich Security Conference as a kind of Davos for defense. This year, more than six decades into the annual gathering, the stakes are higher than ever. Our colleague, All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly, is there. And she's in her element and on the line. Hi, Mary Louise.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, BYLINE: Hey. Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: Good morning. It sounds very busy there. Where exactly are you and what's the scene?
KELLY: We are in the thick of it. I am speaking to you from a balcony looking down over the main entrance of the conference. There are black cars and limos pulling up. It is next-level security. I think we went through four or five different security checks on the way in, and that is because of the density of VIPs all around us. I looked one way, and there's the prime minister of Denmark, and then you look another and there's a U.S. senator. A full quarter of the Senate is here, by the way, so they are everywhere.
The head of MI6 is supposed to be here. I have not spotted her yet. All kinds of intelligence, spy chiefs. So it's great eavesdropping, aside from anything else. And we are talking to all kinds of people, everybody who we can get to take our questions - foreign ministers, NATO types, you name it.
FADEL: So we mentioned earlier, the stakes are higher than ever. Just break down why.
KELLY: There is a palpable sense that around us at this conference, they're trying to figure out a new world order in real time. You hear it walking up and down the stairs. You hear it in the queue to the ladies' room. This is people, America's allies, talking through, how do they stand on their own? How does Europe provide for their own security? And that follows, you may remember, the bombshell speech that JD Vance flew in last year and delivered here. It put Europe on notice, and Europeans noticed. They were listening. And now they are figuring out, OK, we're in a new world order - how do we put meat on the bone of that? How do we figure out what that's going to look like?
FADEL: Yeah. Given that the conference is all about European security, you'd think the war in Ukraine would be front and center. Is that front and center?
KELLY: I would say it is not back burner, but it's not front burner here either. It's definitely on the agenda. President Zelenskyy is coming. He'll be here. His foreign minister is coming. They're briefing the press. It's not lost on anyone here we are four years, as of this month, four years into all-out war. It is not at all clear how the war in Ukraine will end. It is not at all clear that Russia wants to end it. Russia is not here, by the way. Russian officials were not invited. The chair of the Munich Security Conference says they wouldn't have come anyway, and even if they had, everyone would ignore them. So here we are.
FADEL: (Laughter). OK, so one big question is, what are the Americans going to say this year? So what are you hearing?
KELLY: So Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the one who everybody is waiting to hear from. He will be the top U.S. official here. And to say, Leila, that there is anticipation doesn't really capture it. People are plotting, OK, if I can't get in the main room where he is, what's the overflow room? What's the overflow to the overflow? Like, there is a lot of interest. I think at this rate, I'll be listening from Bulgaria.
FADEL: (Laughter).
KELLY: And as for content, the wide expectation is it's not going to be that different from the very tough message JD Vance delivered last year, although Rubio is a diplomat, so it may be in a silkier package.
FADEL: That's All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly. Thank you, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Thank you, Leila.
FADEL: You can hear more about the Munich Security Conference today on All Things Considered and on the national security podcast she hosts, Sources & Methods. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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