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EWI today issued a policy paper to stimulate a much-needed debate on the future security arrangements in the region that encompasses the 56 member states of the OSCE.  The paper, Euro-Atlantic Security: One Vision, Three Paths, is the product of intense discussions among an EWI-convened group of experts that included Europeans, Americans and Russians. Both the American and Russian governments had urged EWI to undertake such an initiative to defuse tensions, which were particularly evident in the aftermath of the war in Georgia.

“We must move beyond the calculus of the Cold War,” said EWI Vice President Greg Austin, who oversaw the discussions in Brussels. “All countries involved must recognize the benefits of a common security strategy and start moving towards that strategy. This paper is the first step in this process.”

Because of clear differences of opinion within the group on particular issues, the report is not a consensus document. But the experts agreed on a set of principles for common security, which includes the right of all states to determine their own security arrangements and the need for confidence-building measures. On that basis, the report presents three possible scenarios for dealing with the current Euro-Atlantic security arrangements: remedial repair, partial reconstruction and fundamental transformation.

In presenting each option, the report offers concrete proposals, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Among them: provide for more shared decision-making across the old East-West divide as foreshadowed in the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act; establish joint U.S.-European-Russian cooperation on ballistic missile defenses; bring into force the adapted Conventional Forces in Europe treaty; and elevate current national initiatives on cyber and energy security to a multi-national level.

The paper also calls on political leaders to develop a roadmap for a strengthened security regime at the upcoming OSCE Ministerial Council and the next NATO summit.

“It’s past time to move beyond slogans and rhetoric,” said Austin. “The last decade has demonstrated the futility of hollow reassurances. It’s time to get serious and start implementing them.”

Click here to read the executive summary and download the full text of the policy paper.