Ukraine crisis one of many global threats at Munich Security Conference

Ukraine Crisis Not the Only Urgent Threat Facing the World – MSC CEO | Global Stage | GZERO Media

While Russia’s aggression in Ukraine dominates the headlines, there are many other issues of global concern. In fact, there were so many important crises, according to Benedikt Franke, CEO of the Munich Security Conference, that it was impossible for him and his colleagues to rank them by intensity. There’s a sense of “helplessness,” he said, with the combination of climate change, migration, pandemic, and global hunger “overwhelming” us. So the conference decided not to prioritize global issues based on the level of threat. Instead, they decided to “treat them all the same,” Franke said.

Franke spoke with moderator David Sanger in GZERO Media's Global Stage livestream discussion at the Munich Security Conference.

More from GZERO Media

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Head of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring Yury Chikhanchin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on July 8, 2025.
Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS

At first glance, Russia has coped well under the weight of Ukraine-related Western sanctions, but clouds are starting to circle on Moscow.

Riot police officers fire tear gas canisters to disperse demonstrators during anti-government protests dubbed “Saba Saba People’s March,” in the Rift Valley town of Nakuru, Kenya, on July 7, 2025.
REUTERS/Suleiman Mbatiah

Kenya’s president orders police to shoot at protesters, European nuclear powers expand umbrella, and US President Donald Trump goes after Brazil.