Freshfields’ geopolitical conversations at Munich Security Conference 2025

What specific impacts of geopolitical tensions are companies facing today? How should governments balance free trade with the protection of national interests? And what might investment policies look like in the future? These and other questions were the focus of a high-profile panel discussion at this year’s Munich Security Conference, hosted by Freshfields in cooperation with the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union.

Together with our distinguished speakers and panelists – Ambassador (ret.) Wolfgang Ischinger, President of the Munich Security Conference Foundation; Udo Philipp, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection; Mara Karlin, Professor, Johns Hopkins University, and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities; John Harrison, General Counsel & Head of Public Affairs at Airbus; and Koos Lodewijkx, Chief Information Security Officer at IBM – we discussed the growing geopolitical uncertainties and what they mean for investments and businesses around the world. Our partner Beth George, who leads our Strategic Risk Management Group, moderated this official side event at this year’s Munich Security Conference. 

“We live in a world with growing geopolitical challenges.” – Udo Philipp

Regional wars and conflicts, tensions between powerful nations, rising nationalism and fierce technological competition are currently reshaping – and will continue to reshape – the global business environment. Globalisation and the era of unrestricted trade as we have known it over the last decades may slow down and a new era of rising protectionism seems to be on the horizon. Also, new technologies are not immune from this development and may be used to the detriment of others. 

“With the proliferation of cybercrime and acceleration of new technologies, cybersecurity can no longer be addressed in silos. Integrated, robust and resilient cybersecurity strategies and trusted partnerships are the best way to protect critical services, economies and people.“ – Koos Lodewijkx 

To meet these global challenges, states and unions like the European Union must develop a coherent policy balancing free trade with national interests. In safeguarding their national priorities, countries frequently regulate the investment in and trade of critical and influential technologies. This balance allows them to engage in global markets without jeopardising their essential resources and security.

“Today’s threats are complex and interconnected. The plasticity of this period, wherein major regions and conflicts are being fundamentally reshaped, contains challenges and opportunities for national security interests.” – Mara Karlin

“In this world where economic policy and security policy are more and more intertwined, together with our European partners, we need to strengthen the EU’s resilience and sovereignty. We need to secure our supply chains, counter hybrid attacks effectively, secure a green and steady energy supply and strengthen our technological leadership in innovative sectors“, explains Udo Philipp, showing his perspective on opportunities and objectives of furthering European harmonisation in terms of FDI regulation.

Just recently, the U.S., still under the Biden administration, added the instrument of outbound investment control to its regulatory toolbox, requiring investors to report or restrict certain investments in companies engaged in sensitive technologies, such as semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum computing and AI systems, in China (learn more about this issue in this podcast). Similarly, the European Commission has just issued a recommendation for Member States to review outbound investments, relating to sensitive technologies and data (more on this here). While such regimes may be justified to protect important interests, they pose additional burdens on businesses and may lead to undesired outcomes. 

“A global company like Airbus needs a rules-based economic world order. But rules-based must not mean overregulation. In Europe, regulation is an important impediment to competitiveness of our companies.“ – John Harrison. 

“Geopolitical events, from armed conflicts to sanctions to tariffs, can have existential impacts on businesses. Executives need to be laser focused not only on these events, but they need to understand their potential downstream impacts on the markets. Deciphering these risks is crucial for our clients and their business and legal strategies,” says Freshfields Partner Beth George. 

Our Strategic Risk Management Group will continue to publish a series of blog posts providing valuable insights on how to protect companies from those risks and implement a geopolitical strategy.