The signing of the Helsinki Final Act on 1 August 1975 was a historic occasion. The 35 Heads of State (including the two superpower leaders, US President Gerald Ford and USSR Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev) committed themselves irrevocably to mutually beneficial dialogue instead of mutually assured destruction.

The Helsinki Final Act was a landmark accord in many ways. One of the most significant was that it made human rights issues - which had long been a no-go area in relations between East and West - a subject of legitimate concern to all. No longer could nations seek to shield human rights violations from international scrutiny by claiming they were internal affairs.

The agreement also featured three main sets of principles, often known as 'baskets'. They were issues related to the politico-military aspects of security (basket I); co-operation in economics, science and technology and the environment (basket II); and co-operation in humanitarian and other fields (basket III).

A catalyst for change

For a decade and a half after the signing of the Helsinki Final Act, the CSCE served as a forum for dialogue and a catalyst for change; forming a vital bridge between the two halves of what was still an ideologically, politically and economically divided Europe.

None of the original 35 signatories, however, could have predicted the startling speed with which the communist bloc would finally collapse at the end of the 1980s. As regime after regime crumbled, it was easy to get carried away by the seemingly universal atmosphere of optimism. The "end of history" was confidently predicted.

History, however, refused to lie down and die. In Eastern Europe, many old tensions and rivalries - ethnic, political and geographical - bubbled to the surface. Despite all efforts to stop them, a number of bloody conflicts would flare up in the next few years.

It was clear that the framework for co-operation provided by Helsinki was no longer adequate. But even as the old Soviet Union prepared to de-invent itself, the CSCE was already busy reinventing itself to meet the security challenges of the new Europe.

From Conference to Organization

In November 1990, the CSCE Heads of State or Government gathered in Paris for what was only their second-ever Summit to lay the groundwork for the transformation of the CSCE from a diplomatic Conference into an Organization dedicated to the promotion of security and co-operation in Europe.

To address the new challenges created by the now-volatile situation in many regions of Eastern Europe and beyond, the CSCE created numerous field operations and other bodies. The process was marked by the renaming of the CSCE to the OSCE at the Fourth Heads of State Summit in Budapest in December 1994.

By the end of the 1990s, the OSCE had set up a considerable number of institutions and field operations, ranging in size from just a few staff to well over 1,000 in the case of Kosovo. With their flexible and practical methods of working, these field operations contributed greatly to increased security and stability in many parts of Europe.

New millennium, new security challenges

But the arrival of the new millennium - far from ushering in a new age of peace and security - demonstrated once again the truth of the old saying that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. The horrific events of September 11 in the USA, and other later terrorist attacks in several OSCE participating States, pointed to the need for a more comprehensive approach to global security.

Meanwhile, other voices calling for further OSCE reform were beginning to make themselves heard. Was the OSCE, which had achieved so much during the 1990s, really equipped to tackle the challenges of the twenty-first century? It is a question that will continue to be discussed in depth as the OSCE's 56 participating States consider its future.