OSCE studies : the state of the art and future directions (review essay)

Merlingen, Michael (author)

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been givenlittle attention in International Relations scholarship. Against this background, 2001 was a bumper year for (English) books on the institution withfour major contributions emerging. Yet, if one turns from quantity to quality, one returns to normality. All but one of the books is descriptive, which is indicative of the state of the art. OSCE studies mostly eschew any explicit reference to analytical frameworks or theories. Such a descriptive orientation limits what can be said about the institution. This essay brings three theoretical frameworks into focus in order to illustrate the argument that research on the OSCE would benefit from a theoretical turn. It is shown how these three approaches - constructivist security studies, the Copenhagen school and Foucauldian power analysis - extend OSCE studies in previously unexplored directions, thereby opening new windows on the institution to reveal aspects of what it is and what it does that have not been brought to light before. While these three approaches do not exhaust the possibilities for theoretically informed research on the OSCE, they do point out the need for going beyond the state of the art of OSCE studies.

• Language: English
• Keywords: constructivism, Copengahen school, desecuritisation, Foucault, High Commissioner on National Minorities, long-term missions, normalisation, norms, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), power
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 2003
• Number of pages: Str. 71-85, 104, 107
• Numbering: Vol. 6, no. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-135828
• UDC: 327
• ISSN on article: 1408-6980
• COBISS.SI-ID: 22986333
• Publication date in RUL: 30.03.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Journal of international relations and development
• Shortened title: J. int. relat. & dev.
• Publisher: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre of International Relations
• ISSN: 1408-6980
• COBISS.SI-ID: 76065792

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Študije o OVSE

Abstract

V mednarodnih odnosih kot znanstveni disciplini je bila Organizacija za varnost in sodelovanje v Evropi (OVSE) deležna le malo pozornosti. Zato je bilo leto 2001 izjemno za (angleško) literaturo o njej, saj so izšle kar štiri študije. Vendar ko se od količine ozremo h kvaliteti, lahko zopet opazimo normalno stanje. Razen ene od študij so vse druge opisne, kar je sicer značilno za to področje proučevanja. Študije o OVSE se večinoma izogibajo vsakršnega neposrednega nanašanja na analitične okvire in teorije. Taka opisna naravnanost nujno omejuje tisto, kar je o OVSE mogoče povedati. Zato se članek osredotoča na tri teoretične okvire, da bi ponazoril trditev, koliko bi proučevanje OVSE pridobilo s teoretično osmislitvijo. Kaže, kako trije takšni pristopi - konstruktivistične varnostne študije, kopenhagenska šola in foucaujevska analiza moči - bogatijo proučevanje OVSE v še neraziskani smeri. Tako odkriva tudi nove, še nerazumljene vidike tega, kaj ta institucija je in kaj počne. Čeprav ti trije pristopi ne izčrpajo možnosti za teoretično osmišljeno proučevanje OVSE, pa poudarjajo potrebo po preseganju sedanje opisne metode pri njenem proučevanju.

• Keywords: konstruktivizem, kopenhagenska šola, depolitizacija varnosti, Foucault, visoki komisar za narodne manjšine, dolgoročne misije, normalizacija, norme, Organizacija za varnost in sodelovanje v Evropi (OVSE), moč