The George. C. Marshall Center (GCMC) has been formally cooperating with the Munich Security Conference (MSC) since August 2017 in a forum called the Loisach Group (LG). This group is named after the river Loisach, which runs through Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Munich. The name symbolizes the flow of ideas and recommendations that are developed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and that contribute to the MSC and help shape its content and discussions. The objective of the LG platform is to support the strategic German-American dialogue.
The LG meets two to three times a year. It consists currently of twenty-six core members who are German and American generals, ambassadors, prominent scholars, and high-ranking current and former government officials. It has three permanent Senior Counselors.
It aims to strengthen the partnership between the United States and Germany by bringing together a small group of leading security policy experts to discuss pressing transatlantic security issues. Since its first meeting in 2017, the LG has facilitated open and frank discussions on some of the most pressing security challenges facing the U.S. and Germany, trying to pave the way for even closer cooperation and coordination between the two countries.