Conflict Prevention in the OSCE: An assessment of capacities

In the 1990s the prevention of violent conflicts has increasingly become a strategic priority for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In response to the increase in the number of internal and ethno-political conflicts in Europe the OSCE has been faced with the challenge of expanding its operational capacity in conflict prevention and crisis management. This study analyses the OSCE's structural and conceptual affinity for a conflict prevention approach and how this has developed from an aspiration to practice. Commenting on the experiences of the political bodies, mechanisms and instruments of the OSCE, the High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Missions of long duration the study evaluates the extent to which the OSCE has responded effectively to potential violent conflicts in Europe. Suggesting that the OSCE has evolved a comprehensive net of conflict prevention capacities in a piecemeal rather than systematic fashion, the study notes that experience has shown that the net is not impervious to threats of violence. In particular the limitations to the OSCE?s conflict prevention architecture are highlighted in case studies of involvement in Chechnya, Albania and Kosovo. The conclusion also comments on some of the innovations that the OSCE has introduced into endeavours to address conflicts at an early stage.