A who’s who of the world’s major political leaders, past and present, are descending on Munich for the annual Munich Security Conference. After last year’s forum, in which Vice President JD Vance, who was leading the U.S. delegation, took an abrasive tone in his keynote address that rankled some attendees, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead this year’s delegation.

Unlike last year, when the Israel-Hamas war featured prominently on the agenda, this year’s MSC schedule has relatively little time dedicated to talking about the conflict, with just two sessions expected to touch on Gaza. And whereas last year’s attendee list included a number of Israelis, including President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Israel Katz, there are no current Israeli officials slated to speak. (Former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will join one of the panels on Gaza reconstruction.)

Also absent this year is a Qatari presence. ​​Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who spoke last year about de-escalating tensions in the Middle East, is not on this year’s schedule, nor are any other Qatari officials.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — back this year after skipping the 2025 MSC to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border — and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) will lead a bipartisan congressional delegation that includes Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Warner (D-VA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Steve Daines (R-MT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Peter Welch (D-VT), Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is slated to speak on two panels today, one on the “rise of populism,” and another on the “future of U.S. foreign policy,” the latter in conversation with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Matthew Whitaker, the U.S.’ representative to NATO. Matt Duss, a former foreign policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who has been critical of the U.S.-Israel relationship and is now advising the New York Democrat, said that she will use her perch in Munich to give the “working-class perspective” on the intersection of domestic politics and foreign policy.

AOC isn’t the only millennial member of Congress to be addressing the MSC this year. Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), the first Iranian American Democrat elected to Congress, will be speaking on Sunday on a panel titled “Under Reconstruction: A World Order for the Next Generation.”

The conference kicks off this afternoon with a sit-down with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, followed by a panel discussion on “The International Order Between Reform and Destruction,” which will feature U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Michael Waltz, the EU’s Kaja Kallas, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez.

A town hall session focused on Gaza rebuilding efforts will take place later this afternoon. Speakers include Nickolay Mladenov, the Bulgarian diplomat serving as the head of the Gaza Board of Peace, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Livni and Palestinian Authority Foreign Affairs Minister Varsen Aghabekian. Concurrent to that panel is a session focused on maritime security, with Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi, whose country has been used by the Iran-backed Houthis as a launching pad for attacks on ships transiting through the Gulf, set to speak.

Later in the day, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour will moderate back-to-back sessions on the future of Iran: the first with exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and British-Iranian actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi; and the second with Graham, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Karim Sadjadpour, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Manal Radwan, a senior advisor in Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry.

Rubio will kick off Saturday’s sessions with a mainstage conversation with MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger, followed by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Also on Saturday  morning, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and the International Committee for the Red Cross’ Mirjana Spoljaric Egger will speak on a panel about peace deals.

Later in the day, Elbridge Colby, the Defense Department’s under secretary of war for policy will speak in conversation with Foreign Policy’s Ravi Agrawal before joining a larger panel focused on security in the Indo-Pacific.

The Middle East will take center stage again on Saturday evening, during a session titled “Building on Momentum in the Middle East: From Promise to Progress?” that will feature another appearance by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, joined by Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and Sigrid Kaag, who now sits on the executive board of the Board of Peace.

Prince Faisal will also speak alongside U.K. Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper and White House senior advisor Massad Boulos in a session Saturday focused on ending the war in Sudan.