The evolving role of the OSCE in the shaping of European security

Abstract

This article analyses the role of the CSCE/OSCE in the shaping of European security. The 1975 Helsinki Final Act put forward a broad understanding of security, implying economic, societal and other non-traditional dimensions of security, which was an innovation at the time, and promoted the idea of comprehensive security. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Soviet Union were understood then as an opportunity for promoting the “Common European home” principles as put forward by Gorbachev. This new context conferred a renewed sense of belonging to the “wide Europe” with no dividing walls. However, European security evolved differently; with different understandings and perceptions about the “other” taking shape, and creating lines of dissension in the articulation of an inclusive security order sought by the OSCE. The article argues the OSCE had difficulties in adjusting to the new postCold War security context, providing a mixed assessment of the organisation’s role in European security. This is so due to several factors, including the working rules of the organisation, the role and positioning of Russia within and towards the OSCE, and the drawing of the European security architecture around NATO and what this means to the OSCE as a piece in the European security puzzle.