OSCE Yearbook 2012

The OSCE Yearbook 2012 contains a wealth of writing by experts and practitioners alike on Europe’s most comprehensive security organization. This year’s special focus section looks at twenty years of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM).

The Authors consider the HCNM’s evolving work in various regions (including Ukraine, Central Asia, and the Baltic states) and on various topics, such as quiet diplomacy and the various sets of thematic recommendations, which are his most powerful tools. Participating States in the spotlight in 2012 include Russia, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, and Germany. There are also chapters on the Chechen conflict, the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, and the relevance of the Arab Spring for the OSCE. Naturally, the Yearbook also includes a detailed review of the 2011 Lithuanian Chairmanship.

Further highlights include discussions of the IDEAS and EASI Euro-Atlantic security initiatives and of whether the OSCE is on the way to becoming a “security community”. The OSCE’s Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier, discusses co-operation between international organizations.

The Yearbook includes compendious appendixes with data and facts on the 57 OSCE States as well as a full bibliography of recent publications.