OPINION:The Republic will need to show character, courage, stamina and skill in defence of human rights
NEXT YEAR, the Republic will chair the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
With 56 member states it is the world’s largest regional security organisation. A successful chairmanship would enhance Ireland’s international reputation at very limited cost to the taxpayer, but achieving this will take dedication and imagination.
The organisation is in crisis. While an Arab Spring beckons in some countries to the south, a bleak winter for freedom grips Russia and most other former Soviet republics to the east. This is where the organisation faces its greatest challenge.
Based in Vienna, the regional security organisation promotes human rights, (early warning), conflict prevention, crisis management, and post-conflict rehabilitation in Europe and, primarily, Eurasia.
Vexing problems persist that a strong organisation could temper. In 2005 in Andijon, Uzbekistan, government forces massacred hundreds of protesters; dangers remain there. Last year Kyrgyzstan’s despotic leader fled after ordering demonstrators shot; a more democratic government is now struggling.
Insurgencies are spreading in Russia’s largely Muslim north Caucasus, jeopardising security for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. In Chechnya, the Kremlin condones thuggish rule by a warlord. In many former Soviet states democratic activists and journalists are detained, imprisoned, or even murdered. Russia’s military occupies parts of Georgia and Moldova. Talks on “frozen conflicts” – in Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh – are long stalled.
Blocked by anti-democratic members, the organisation does little to assuage these crises. It had a presence in Chechnya, observers in South Ossetia and a mission in Belarus.
They’re now gone.
Manipulating the organisation’s consensus rule, Moscow has vetoed crisis-response proposals, preventive action in the north Caucasus and aid in Afghanistan adjacent to central Asia.
At a summit last December the organisation did next to nothing to advance human rights, democracy or security. A parallel conference of non-governmental groups, however, brought sharper focus to injustices.
To lead the world’s largest regional security organisation, the Republic will need to punch above its diplomatic weight but it has unique strengths, including successful experience in pursuing peaceful reconciliation and an enviable record of peacekeeping. Ireland’s non-aligned tradition will further enhance its credibility as a mediator.
A major obstacle is overcoming the growing burden of consensus rule. Take Belarus for example. Candidates opposed to Alexander Lukashenko in last December’s presidential election have been beaten and imprisoned. Belarus would veto any attempt to condemn these shocking actions, and so the organisation as a body has been shamefully silent.
Ireland should consider sponsoring a “democracy caucus” where willing participants would tackle issues which are blocked by consensus. Despite being a major shift in the organisation’s diplomatic etiquette, the caucus could foster transparency and debate about emerging threats to freedom and security.
If it utilises this opportunity, the Republic has the capacity to advance rights, democracy, and security throughout Eurasia.
Denis Corboy is director of the Caucasus Policy Institute at King’s College London; William Courtney was US ambassador to Kazakhstan and Georgia and senior adviser to the US Helsinki Commission; Michael Haltzel is Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies