ABSTRACT
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) behaves like a reflector. It bundles and reflects the beams of light from the sources, i.e. the policies of the participating states, and directs that light to certain spots. The states may change the position of the reflector by increasing or decreasing the influence of some of the light beams. The reflector was constructed and is paid for by the collective of the states who appoint the personnel for its maintenance. They control the reflector in the same way that the national states control the OSCE. The autonomy of OSCE officers corresponds to that of those in charge of the reflector: they have to place it correctly, clean it and repair it. Their activities have a marginal impact, yet with some autonomy.
