This article sketches out a conceptual framework for exploring the diasporic politics of the Russians in the post-Soviet borderlands. Specific consideration is given to the Russians within Estonia ...and Latvia, the only two postSoviet states not to grant automatic citizenship to all those resident within their sovereign spaces in 1991. The essay not only examines the Russians in relation to the homeland regimes or nationalizing states in which they are located but also looks at the role of transnational political actors- specifically, the state patron (Russia) and Western transnational political institutions (notably the OSCE)- in shaping diasporic politics. It is argued that by examining the relationships among 'the ethnic patron', 'the West' and 'nationalizing state', we are better placed to understand the ways in which the differing representations of homeland by the Russian minorities themselves are being reconstituted as part of a diverse and unravelling community of identity politics, limited political opportunities and survival strategies.
This open-access book explores the security dynamics amid the polarization, shifting borders, and liquid governance that define the Zeitenwende era in Europe's eastern neighbourhood and Central Asia. ...Presenting various case studies, the volume unveils the intricate web of border dynamics and practices, including the nuanced interplay of border disputes within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) member states. The contributions shed new light on how contested borders and liquid modes of governance have impacted the engagement of international organizations such as the European Union (EU), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and OSCE in security crises and conflict prevention. Delving deeper, a special part dissects the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and examines European and international responses. By analyzing the stances of diverse European countries, their neighborhood, and international organizations, this section uncovers commonalities and disparities in their approaches to the Ukrainian crisis.
This open-access book explores the security dynamics amid the polarization, shifting borders, and liquid governance that define the Zeitenwende era in Europe's eastern neighbourhood and Central Asia. ...Presenting various case studies, the volume unveils the intricate web of border dynamics and practices, including the nuanced interplay of border disputes within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) member states. The contributions shed new light on how contested borders and liquid modes of governance have impacted the engagement of international organizations such as the European Union (EU), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and OSCE in security crises and conflict prevention. Delving deeper, a special part dissects the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and examines European and international responses. By analyzing the stances of diverse European countries, their neighborhood, and international organizations, this section uncovers commonalities and disparities in their approaches to the Ukrainian crisis.
The OSCE Moscow Mechanism is one of the generally little-known mechanisms, established in 1991 to facilitate resolution of a particular question or problem relating to the human dimension of the ...OSCE. This article aims to highlight its role and significant potential to identify relevant patterns of behaviour supported by collected information and evidence on violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in situations that need urgent attention by the international community. Its flexibility and short reactionary time serves to promptly document developments and make them publicly available to inform further actions. At the same time, the mechanism in practice encounters a number of challenges, such as lack of cooperation from the States “under investigation”, very short missions’ deadlines for submission of their findings and rather limited (technical) support by the designated OSCE Institution, the ODIHR. This article discusses the mechanism as such and then looks into the two of its reports from 2022 concerning the situation following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and their impact within the OSCE and beyond. It provides some general conclusions and suggestions on possible improvements of the mechanism going forward.
International organizations continuously deploy civilian capabilities as part of their peacekeeping and crisis management operations. This presents them with significant challenges. Not only are ...civilian deployments rapidly increasing in quantity, but civilian missions are also very diverse in nature. This article analyses how international organizations have learned to deploy their civilian capabilities to deal with a growing number and fast evolving types of operations. Whereas the previous literature has addressed this question for individual international organizations, this article uniquely compares developments in the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU) and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), three of the largest civilian actors. Drawing on the concept of organizational learning, it shows that all three organizations have made significant changes over the last decade in their civilian capabilities. The extent of these changes, however, varies across these organizations. The article highlights that the EU, despite its more homogeneous and wealthier membership, has not been able to better learn to deploy its civilian capabilities than the UN or OSCE. We show that the ability of these organizations to learn is, instead, highly dependent on institutional factors.
The paper analyses the activities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which, as a result of the transformation of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe ...(CSCE), has become one of the main elements of the European security architecture. The subject of interest is the international legal cooperation of the participating States in the field of international legal provision of the collective cybersecurity. Since its beginning the twenty-first century has been marked by the rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICT), which significantly accelerated communication processes both at the national and international levels.
El documento analiza las actividades de la Organización para la Seguridad y la Cooperación en Europa (OSCE), que, como resultado de la transformación de la Conferencia sobre Seguridad y Cooperación en Europa (CSCE), se ha convertido en uno de los principales elementos de la arquitectura de la seguridad europea. El tema de interés es la cooperación jurídica internacional de los Estados participantes en el ámbito de la disposición jurídica internacional de la ciberseguridad colectiva. Desde sus inicios el siglo XXI ha estado marcado por el rápido desarrollo de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC), lo cual aceleró significativamente los procesos de comunicación tanto a nivel nacional como internacional.
Despite high levels of societal homophobia, Western Balkan countries have recently passed laws proscribing anti-LGBT violence. The laws, however, are rarely used, as these countries report few or no ...recorded cases. The question is: Why do Western Balkan countries legislate against homophobia, but then fail to operationalize that legislation? Hate studies, still over-focused on the West, do not provide the answer. The aim of this paper is to offer a possible explanation based on a combination of secondary data provided by the OSCE and primary research undertaken by the author. Using the theory of Europeanization as an explanatory frame, the paper argues that hate crime laws are enacted as part of the democratization process, with the support of the OSCE and NGOs, and under EU influence. As this is done before favourable sentiments are assured, insufficient resources are put into the policing and monitoring of hate crime.
A stated aim in the EU Global Strategy is for the EU to work with partners in addressing crises across the world. This article analyses such potential in the area of crisis response and ...peacebuilding, with an emphasis on the EU's interaction with the UN and OSCE. It starts off comparatively by examining where the EU, UN and OSCE add value in crisis response and peacebuilding and reach complementarities. It shows that deployments differ across geographical locations and that the mandates of these organizations vary considerably with the EU focusing on police capacity building, the OSCE on the judiciary and the UN providing monitoring functions. In the second half, the article uses insights from cooperation between these organizations on the ground in Kosovo, Mali and Armenia to determine levels of interaction. Despite relatively few conflicts between these organizations, we find that they continue to work in parallel with each organization focusing on their narrow mandate and competences.
Russia has taken on peace-related operations that no-one else, including the UN, was willing to tackle in the civil war in Georgia. The Russian presence has allowed a degree of normalization in the ...country.
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