Benedikt Franke (left), vice chairman and CEO of the Munich Security Conference, and Phil Kaplan, executive director of the Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment
The Jackson School of Global Affairs and the Munich Security Conference (MSC) have announced an academic collaboration for the coming 2025-2026 academic year. The partnership will allow the two leading institutions to work together to co-host events, share expertise, and cooperate on future publications.
“We’re so excited for this partnership,” said Jim Levinsohn, dean of the Jackson School. “Our scholars and graduates are already on the MSC mainstage, they’re engaged in bilateral meetings representing their countries in official roles at the conference. This is a great opportunity to work together even more closely.”
“Academic partnerships like these bring scholars and practitioners together, fostering an environment where rigorous research and diverse perspectives enable informed debates and drive solutions to global challenges,” explained Benedikt Franke, vice chairman and CEO of the MSC. “We are proud to partner with the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, an institution renowned for its excellence and academic rigor. This collaboration underscores our commitment to advancing academic discussions and addressing global challenges through collaborative efforts.”
[Phil Kaplan](https://jackson.yale.edu/person/phil-kaplan/), the executive director of the [Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment](https://jackson.yale.edu/centers-initiatives/blue-center/) at the Jackson School, attended the MSC this year and met with Franke to discuss ways that the two institutions could collaborate. At next year’s conference, the Blue Center will organize side-events in Munich during the conference, connecting Yale professors with global leaders in areas of shared expertise.
“MSC is a unique forum,” said Kaplan. “As this year’s conference demonstrated, it is both a convening of experts and a place where statecraft takes place in real-time. That makes them an ideal partner for the Blue Center to project the work of our scholars out into the world.”
In addition to participating in next year’s MSC, the Jackson School will also welcome an MSC representative at this year’s Yale Special Operations Forces Conference (SOFCON). Launched in 2018, SOFCON brings together academics, government officials, military leaders, and industry professionals to discuss emerging challenges and opportunities within the broader special operations community.