Over the past decade, it has been increasingly difficult for the 57 participating States of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to achieve the consensus necessary to address key issues facing the OSCE region, as well as to make decisions that shape the internal functioning of the organization.
In contrast to the bloc-to-bloc confrontations of the Cold War, there often is overwhelming support from most OSCE countries for specific decisions or actions. However, the Russian Federation regularly represents the single dissenting country; without consensus, under OSCE rules, the proposal fails.
Some participating States have tried to accommodate Russian recalcitrance, believing it will give Moscow a greater stake in the OSCE; others see Moscow’s obstructionism succeed and are tempted to play the same game. Such efforts only encourage greater intransigence and move the OSCE away from the core principles and values around which all participating States once rallied.
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Contributors: Robert Hand, Senior Policy Advisor,
Janice Helwig, Representative of the Helsinki Commission to the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, and Erika Schlager, Counsel for International Law