Multilateralism in Transition: Challenges and Opportunities for the OSCE
This CSS Study examines the challenges that the broad context of the global crisis of multilateralism and increased geopolitical polarization poses for the OSCE and how it has responded to them. It also highlights the chances that have emerged. Insights into challenges faced by Swiss Ambassador Thomas Greminger and how he sought to navigate the OSCE through stormy waters form the heart of this study, flanked by analyses of the OSCE’s responses to conflicts in Ukraine and Transnistria.
To the publication: English, German
The aim of this book is to bring together different expert and practitioner perspectives on the question of where the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stands at the beginning of the 21st century. Set against the backdrop of the global crisis of multilateralism and increased geopolitical polarization, it examines the challenges this broad context poses for an institution such as the OSCE and how the OSCE has responded to them. It also highlights the opportunities that have emerged for the organization, often paradoxically as a result of a highly polarized environment. First-hand insights into the challenges faced by Swiss Ambassador Thomas Greminger, who acted as the OSCE Secretary General from 2017–2020, and how he sought to navigate the OSCE through stormy waters form the heart of this volume, flanked by analyses of the OSCE’s responses “on the ground” to the conflicts in Ukraine and Transnistria. It also aims to look toward the OSCE’s possible future development.
The volume opens with a chapter by David Lanz, who looks at the broader context in which the OSCE exists and must contend with. Then, Fabian Grass, who headed Thomas Greminger’s 2017 campaign for the position of OSCE Secretary General, discusses the considerations that formed the backdrop of the campaign. The contribution by Greminger himself provides a critical assessment of the extent to which the goals he set out when he took up his mandate were achieved. Greminger reminds us that the crisis of multilateralism needs to be responded to by reforms that increase the effectiveness and efficiency of multilateral organizations, such as the OSCE. The last two chapters look at the OSCE “on the ground” in Ukraine and Transnistria. Anna Hess Sargsyan’s chapter highlights the paradox of how the crisis in and around Ukraine affected the relations between Russia and Western states, yet managed to generate joint action from both blocs. Benno Zogg’s chapter looks at the OSCE’s role in the Transnistria conflict in Moldova, a so-called protracted conflict in which the OSCE has a far-reaching mandate to work toward resolution.