Over its nearly 50 years of existence, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has developed a wide-ranging set of tools to address security challenges across its region.
These tools span the political-military, economic-environmental, and human dimensions of security, based on the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of what security is. They have been used to prevent conflict, enhance political and military transparency, foster trust-building, and support peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts.
However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and its full-scale war in 2022 have dismantled Europe’s existing security architecture, which had been underpinned by OSCE commitments undertaken by participating States in 1975. As a result, many OSCE tools, particularly those in the politico-military domain, have been rendered ineffective.
Beyond geopolitical disruptions, the effectiveness of the OSCE Toolbox has also been constrained by several internal factors, including the lack of political will among some participating States to fully utilise these tools, the constraints of consensus-based decision-making, and resource limitations. These challenges have further weakened the OSCE’s ability to act decisively in times of crisis.
Nevertheless, a potential resurgence of political commitment could reinvigorate the OSCE’s tools, enabling them to be adapted to current challenges and once again serve their intended purpose. Some tools have remained relevant and continue to offer significant value; these should be fully utilised and strengthened where possible. Most importantly, OSCE tools need to be used flexibly, often in combination, depending on the specific needs of a given situation.
This report recommends the following actions be undertaken by the OSCE to improve the efficacy of its toolbox:
Modernise tools
Update OSCE instruments to address contemporary security challenges more effectively, integrating modern technology in areas like cybersecurity, unmanned systems, and space-related security technologies.
Enhance legal framework and compliance
Support recommendations from OSCE assessment and fact-finding missions, legal reviews, and opinions with robust mechanisms that can help ensure their implementation, particularly in states lacking the political will or capacity to adopt reforms independently.
Enhance transparency and communication
Improve transparency in military activities and communication between OSCE states through more robust verification and reporting systems to ensure data accuracy and timeliness.
Revamp engagement formats
Adopt innovative engagement formats, such as combining formal plenary sessions with smaller, focused workshops, to enhance dialogue and consensus-building among participating states.
Enhance capacity-building
Strengthen the capacity of participating states by investing in training and resources to bolster local early warning, conflict prevention, and crisis management efforts.
Enhance inter-agency cooperation
Improve coordination with other international and regional organisations, such as the UN and EU, to amplify the OSCE’s impact, avoid duplication of efforts, and strengthen the collective security framework.
Strengthen early warning mechanisms
Improve early warning mechanisms by introducing more informal and regular discussions and granting greater autonomy to the Conflict Prevention Centre for independent assessments and recommendations.
Strengthen conflict prevention mechanisms
Enhance the autonomy of the Conflict Prevention Centre to conduct independent assessments and provide timely recommendations directly to the Permanent Council to improve response speed and effectiveness.
Maintain focus on the human dimension
Sustain engagement with civil society and prioritise regular assessments of initiatives to identify impactful areas, ensuring that human rights, rule of law, and democracy remain central to OSCE’s comprehensive security framework.
This report also features an annex, detailing the various tools at the OSCE’s disposal and their effectiveness today, as well as what can be done to increase their impact.
Read the report here
Annex: OSCE Toolbox effectiveness
The Expert Network on the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a new initiative launched by the OSCE to inject new ideas and insights into the organisation’s policy ecosystem. The ELN is one of the Core Partners, and over the last year has conducted research on the OSCE’s toolkit and how it could be used under different future scenarios for European security. More information is available here.
The European Leadership Network itself as an institution holds no formal policy positions. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the authors rather than the European Leadership Network or its members. The ELN aims to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time, to further its charitable purposes.
Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo / Tiny Ivan