Munich Security Conference Kicks Off With Talks On Energy Supplies, Arab Spring

A German police officer with a sniffer dog demonstrates the search for explosives before the start of the 48th Conference on Security Policy in Munich on February 3.

Top security and defense officials are gathering in Munich, Germany, for a three-day conference focusing on global energy supplies, Europe's security role, and the Middle East.

Officials including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and World Bank President Robert Zoellick are set to attend the 48th Munich Security Conference, which comes amid a fresh dispute on Russian energy supplies to Europe and mounting concern that a Western standoff with Iran over its nuclear program may affect global oil supplies.

The conference opens with a discussion on energy, followed by talks February 4 on the European-American defense alliance.

The conference is set to close on February 5 following panel discussions focusing on ramifications of the Arab Spring and approaches to cybersecurity.

Compiled from agency reports