ABSTRACT
The CSCE was born of a certain moment in the Cold War but the OSCE has remained one of the primary regional organizations in postCold War Europe. Born out in the Helsinki Final Act, the CSCE approach centered on common and comprehensive security for the Euro-Atlantic community of states. During the Cold War, the CSCE was a step towards decelerating the nuclear contest between the United States and its allies, seen in NATO, and the USSR and its allies, seen in the Warsaw Pact. Furthermore, the Final Act finalized the peace of the Second World War. All borders within the CSCE region were recognized and those who were in power were allowed to remain in power. Above all, the CSCE was an inclusive factor in the Cold War European security architecture. Through recognizing borders and regimes as well as promoting CSBMs in the Euro-Atlantic area, the CSCE became more than a series of conferences but instead a path to preventing conflict between states. However, as the socialist regimes began to crack, the propensity of inter-state conflict lessened and the proclivity for intra-state conflict increased. As early as 1986, the CSCE participating states came together to begin discussing the link between the human dimension and European security as well as what the CSCE could do to promote security and cooperation. This discussion was the beginning of the transition from the “Conference on” to the “Organization for.”
