Reducing Military Risks through OSCE Instruments

Key Points

• The role that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) currently plays in reducing military risks in Europe and how its capacities are currently employed need to be revisited.
• By identifying and focusing on OSCE mechanisms for risk reduction, this paper seeks to provide a plausible explanation of why the organisation’s potential is largely perceived as limited and underperforming.
• In contrast to this perception, this paper highlights the innovative approach to security developed within the OSCE framework, while engaging with the concepts of “soft security” and “Peace as Freedom”.