Is Europe still complicated and mysterious?

In 1939, Prime Minister Kiichiro Hiranuma resigned after making the famous statement, "With the conclusion of a non-aggression treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, the situation in Europe is so 'complicated and mysterious' that we need a new set of policies instead of those already prepared."

Although globalization has made the world much smaller 80 years later, Europe is still a distant place from Asia. It is particularly so when it comes to national security and the outcome of the 2019 Munich Security Conference is no exception. The following are my take on this year's important trans-Atlantic event.

For those who don't know, MSC is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich since 1963 with the exceptions of 1991 due to the Gulf War and 1997 due to the retirement of the conference's founder. 2019 marks MSC's 55th meeting. Japan, China and India have joined the MSC since 1999.