Managing conflict in post-cold war eurasia: The role of the OSCE in Europe's security 'architecture'

Abstract

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is one of the most important, but least well known, of the security institutions in the pan-European region since the end of the Cold War. This essay argues that the OSCE has a vital role to play in providing for European security that is not supplied by any other multilateral institution - NATO, the European Union, the Western European Union, the Council of Europe, or the Commonwealth of Independent States. The OSCE is the only organization that bridges the military and the human dimensions of security. It plays an especially important role in conflict prevention and in trying to seek negotiated solutions in regions that have experienced violent conflict since 1989. The OSCE is most effective when it works cooperatively with other multilateral institutions in the region, and it constitutes a necessary part of the network of interlocking institutions that have created a trans-European security regime since the end of the Cold War.