On February 14, 2025, Perry World House hosted its first-ever side event at the Munich Security Conference (MSC). Since its inception in 1963, the Munich Security Conference brings together world leaders, academics, non-governmental organizations, industry leaders, and more for an annual discussion on some of the greatest international security challenges of the day. While the main stage is reserved for heads of state, foreign ministers, and other senior global leaders, side events allow academic institutions, think tanks, and other organizations to host focused conversations on the issues that are of significant interest to them and their work.
At PWH’s side event, World House Faculty Director and Richard Perry Professor Michael C. Horowitz and PWH Visiting Fellow and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities Mara Karlin led a small group discussion on the future of war. Foreign Affairs Editor Daniel Kurtz-Phelan moderated the event, which largely focused on Horowitz’s and Karlin’s recent Foreign Affairs’ articles. Titled “Do the Mass: Mapping the Age of Precise Mass in Warfare,” the event focused on how advances in artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, manufacturing, and the spread of precision guidance technologies are shaping how militaries plan to fight, especially in what might be a new era of total war. Drawing heavily on lessons learned from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Horowitz and Karlin led off a vibrant conversation attended by now-former Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff General CQ Brown; the heads of think tanks such the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Royal United Services Institute; and other illustrious global figures. While the details of the discussion are not public, it will be the first of many events that Perry World House hosts on the MSC’s global stage.
