Successful Small States in the OSCE and the German Chairmanship of 2016

Author(s): Christian Nünlist
Series: Security and Human Rights
Volume: 26
Issue: 1
Pages: 48-64
Publication Year: 2016

The German chairmanship in 2016 will be an interesting diplomatic experiment for the OSCE. Germany is the most powerful OSCE participating state ever to take the helm of the organization in its 20-year history. Previously, it was predominantly small states that have held the voluntary OSCE presidency. This article reviews the performance of OSCE small states in chairing the organization since 1995. It analyzes both the motives for campaigning for the job as well as the factors that have determined whether the 12-month presidency job was done successfully or not. The article concludes with a warning against setting the expectations for the 2016 German chairmanship too high.

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