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Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
BASIC has long-championed the work of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). It is an organisation
that is uniquely positioned to deal with the conditions that
breed terrorism in Europe and Eurasia. Having transformed
itself following the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Soviet
Union, the OSCE has some 4,000 people in field missions in
19 countries of the region. These missions have helped to
end civil war in Tajikistan, constrained conflict in Ukraine,
Macedonia, Moldova and Georgia, and played a major role in
building civil society in post-conflict Bosnia and Kosovo.
These long-term resident missions play a unique role because
they deal with specific issues at the local level, building
partnerships and defusing conflicts before they erupt. This
is an effective way of dealing with conditions that breed
terrorism. An expanded OSCE role in Central Asia and the Caucasus
would be an effective means of dealing with the threats of
radical Islam and political and economic instability. Yet
in both the United States and the United Kingdom, the organization
is little known and often wrongly seen as a rival to the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU),
and the Council of Europe.
None of these organizations are capable of substituting for
the OSCE. The OSCE, created by the 1975 Helsinki Final Act,
is particularly suited to many U.S. and U.K. goals. It is
the only European security forum that includes the United
States, Canada, and the Russian Federation as full members.
It advocates a comprehensive approach to security, which emphasizes
human rights and economic development as well as military
security issues. It includes other non-EU and non-NATO members
that play a major role in peace building, such as Switzerland
and Finland. The OSCE is more agile and far less expensive
than comparable international organizations.
In sum, the OSCE is uniquely suited to deal with some of
the key threats facing the United States and the United Kingdom
and their allies today: terrorism, organized crime, the illegal
arms trade, political repression, refugee flows and the denial
of human rights.
Archive of BASIC Publications on the
OSCE
The OSCE and MANPADS, BASIC
Reports #86, October 2004.
The
OSCE at a Turning Point? by Ambassador Robert L. Barry,
BASIC Note, 7 September 2004.
The
Future of the OSCE BASIC Special Report 2003.1, Spring
2003. Detailed summary of panel discussion held last fall.
Several topics include:
- Division of Labor Among Transatlantic Organizations
- Applying Lessons Learned from the OSCE to Other Areas
- Reforming the OSCE
For Eurasian Security, Call the OSCE
by Ambassador Robert L. Barry (BASIC Board Member), International
Herald Tribune, 20 November 2002.
Brief Summary of Panel Discussion on "The
Future of the OSCE" - On October 22, 2002, BASIC and the
Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington assembled some key current and former officials to have them
discuss the challenges facing the OSCE and where the OSCE
can make a contribution to conflict prevention and recovery.
See the brief summary and photographs from the discussion.
The
EU and the OSCE in the War on Terrorism BASIC Note,
5 September 2002
The OSCE: A Forgotten
Transatlantic Security Organization?
Analyzes the impact of the OSCE on managing conflict in Eastern
Europe and Central Asia and suggests that this relatively
unknown institution deserves more attention from policy makers.
The report also makes recommendations for improving the OSCE.BASIC
Research Report 2002.3, 31 July 2002.
Small Arms and Light Weapons: An Issue for the OSCE?
A report of a workshop organized by the governments of Canada,
Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland in association with
BASIC 9-10 November 1998 (available in print only).
Links
OSCE Homepage
United States Helsinki Commission
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