Our approach to security

The Organization’s comprehensive and co-operative approach stems from its earliest days as the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). The Helsinki Final Act 1975 codified this principle by recognizing the indivisibility of security in Europe and affirming the equality of participating States' rights and duties. Already then, participating States concluded that security encompassed all aspects of society, while the absence of security in or among States could affect the well-being of all. The OSCE—then the CSCECSCE
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe—was the first security arrangement in Europe that conceived of and adopted this concept.

The OSCE’s co-operative approach to security defines the way the Organization conducts its business. Since all States enjoy equal status, decision-making is by consensus. Co-operative security also encourages the OSCE to work with other international organizations, institutions and partner states—now known as the OSCE Partners for Co-operation.

Another specificity of the Organization is that it was not created following a constitutive act under international law (such as a founding treaty) but as a successor to the CSCE, meaning there is no text establishing the OSCE’s international legal personality. Consequently, decisions taken by the OSCE’s participating States are politically, not legally, binding.

Comprehensive security means that the OSCE is concerned with a broad range of security-related issues, a list that has grown considerably over the years. Nowadays, its work includes such issues as arms control, preventive diplomacy, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, media freedom, minority rights, democratization, the fight against human trafficking and terrorist activities, election monitoring, and a large array of economic and environmental themes.

From early on, the participating States found a pragmatic way to order and organize the manifold activities the CSCE—later the OSCE—would take on. These ‘baskets’, as they were called, largely structured the security aspects into three groups: politico-military, economic-environmental and human. Later, this terminology was updated and these ‘baskets’ became the three OSCE ‘dimensions’. All three dimensions are complementary and viewed as being of equal importance. Many OSCE instruments and activities are, however, relevant to more than one dimension, and several are explicitly cross-dimensional by nature.

Under the header “Questions relating to Security in Europe”, the Helsinki Final Act 1975 subsumed two important foundational topics of the CSCE/OSCE: a “Declaration on Principles Guiding Relations between Participating States”, also known as the ‘Decalogue’; and a “Document on confidence-building measures and certain aspects of security and disarmament”. These created the basis of all of the Organization’s activities in the field of military security, later enlarged to include the political realm.

Historically, the CSCE can be credited with easing military tensions in Europe through its implementation of confidence-building measures. These measures enhanced military transparency and introduced inspections of armaments and military activities on the continent at a time when decades of mistrust had eroded the East-West relationship, creating many security threats.

Under this first dimension, many different risk reduction mechanisms were created, as were, for example, the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, a Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons, and a Document on Stockpiles of Conventional Ammunition.

Basket II of the Helsinki Final Act outlined very broadly the “Co-operation in the Field of Economics, of Science and Technology and of the Environment” among participating States. This entails the concept that solidarity and co-operation in this area can contribute to peace, prosperity and stability. Over time, the second dimension’s focus was put on economic and environmental issues, considering that problems in this arena that are not effectively addressed can contribute to increasing tensions within or among States.

A landmark event in the development of the CSCE/OSCE’s second dimension was the Conference on Economic Co-operation in Europe held in Bonn in 1990. There, the participating States agreed that they shared “the common objectives of sustainable economic growth, a rising standard of living, an improved quality of life, expanding employment, efficient use of economic resources, and protection of the environment.” In later years, the OSCE developed several instruments and mechanisms to deal with economic and environmental security questions, among them the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and the Economic and Environmental Forum. At the 2003 Maastricht Ministerial Council meeting, the States adopted the OSCE Strategy Document for the Economic and Environmental Dimension, committing themselves to co-operate on economic, good governance, sustainable development and environmental protection issues.

“Co-operation in Humanitarian and Other Fields” was the official header for the third focus area of the Helsinki Final Act, and most importantly described, for the first time, commitments in this field as matters of legitimate concern to all participating States that did not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of any given State. Accordingly, human rights became a legitimate subject of dialogue, treated equally to the two other security concepts. Some of the CSCE/OSCE’s most significant developments took place under the ‘human dimension’, including free elections, freedom of the media, and the protection of people belonging to national minorities. These were conceived at the Conference on the Human Dimension, which took place in different European capitals from 1989 to 1991, and led to other human-rights related events, such as the Human Dimension Implementation Meetings, the Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings, and the Human Dimension Seminars.

Cross-dimensional aspects of security

The first two decades of the 21st century were marked by several security challenges that required the OSCE to update some of its instruments and mechanisms and to create new ones. Reflecting the multifaceted nature of these security threats, OSCE responses crossed traditional dimensions. Most importantly, the Organization adopted a Strategy to Address Threats to Security and Stability in the Twenty-First Century, as well as several Documents on the Fight against Terrorism. States also set up an Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings and agreed on concerted efforts to tackle cyber security threats. Focusing on gender imbalances, the Organization adopted an Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality.