The project on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), now entering its fifth year, contributes to the regional organization’s security dialogue with a particular focus on emerging dynamics of security and generational perspectives. The project, now entering its fifth year, offers a contribution to the regional organization’s security dialogue and a forum for analyzing and evaluating emerging security challenges facing OSCE and its 57 participating States and 11 Partners for Co-operation. The project fosters insights on negotiations and diplomatic interactions, with an emphasis on involving political practitioners from outside the organization in the traditional ranks of OSCE practices and field operations. 

Background on the OSCE

The OSCE is the world’s largest security organization, with 57 participating states and 11 cooperating countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The OSCE works for stability and security, human rights, democracy, minorities, socioeconomic, and environmental matters for more than 1.5 billion people through political dialogue and field activities on the basis of joint principles and commitments. Its decisions are taken on the basis of consensus.

The OSCE was established after the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Helsinki in 1975 and is headquartered in Vienna. The organization provides a space for political dialogue on a wide range of security issues and a platform for joint action to improve the lives of individuals and communities. The OSCE attempts to bridge differences and build trust between states by co-operating on conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation. Specifically, it focuses on military security, cybersecurity, conflict prevention, and confidence and security building measures (CSBM); socioeconomic and environmental issues; and human rights, minorities, democracy building, election observation, media freedom. 

OSCE participating States span from Vancouver to Vladivostok, including the US and Canada, all NATO and EU member states, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Russia and all former Soviet Union States, Mongolia, and also, as partners, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, thus making the OSCE the world’s largest security-focused international organization.