International Research Project on OSCE HCNM
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Subject: International Research Project on OSCE HCNM
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Jekaterina Dorodnova <[email protected]>
International Research Project on OSCE HCNM
International Research Project on OSCE HCNM
Dear colleagues,
The international research project "On the Effectiveness of the OSCE
Minority Regime. Comparative Case Studies on Implementation of the
Recommendations of the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the
OSCE" is currently underway. It is coordinated by the Institute for
Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg:
http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/ofsh/welcome.htm
The project is being carried out in 6 countries of Central and Eastern
Europe: Estonia, Latvia, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. A
brief description of the project and presentation of the team members
follows below. Should you be interested in finding out more about the
project, cooperating with us or supporting our work in any way, please
contact us via E-mail.
The Project
One of the most important tasks of the OSCE involves conflict
prevention and early warning in ethnopolitical conflicts bearing the
potential of international escalation. With the High Commissioner on
National Minorities (HCNM) the OSCE has at its disposal a flexible
albeit entirely non-coercive instrument for early warning and
preventive measures. Although the institution has been in existence
since 1993 and is generally seen as one of the most successful
instruments of conflict prevention, a detailed analysis of its
effectiveness is still lacking.
The research project "On the Effectiveness of the OSCE Minority
Regime. Comparative Case Studies on Imple-mentation of the
Recommendations of the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the
OSCE" is intended to help close this research gap. The project is
being supported by the German Research Association (Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft/DFG).
Objectives
The first objective is to analyse the effectiveness of the OSCE
minority regime on the basis of the implementation of the HCNM's
recommendations in comparative case studies on six Central and Eastern
European countries. For political and methodological reasons the cases
of Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine (Russian minorities), Romania and
Slovakia (Hungarian minorities) and Macedonia (Albanian minority) have
been selected. The time period under investigation is from 1993 until
2000.
The second objective lies in the attempt to explain whatever
efficiency or inefficiency has been found by using different theories
of political science. A number of hypotheses developed on the basis of
theories of trans-formation, nationalism and regime analysis are to be
tested for plausibility. The overall theoretical question pertains to
the relationship between the various explanatory dimensions. Better
linkage of a variety of component theories should contribute to a
better understanding of the minority regime.
On the basis of these results, in a third step, policy recommendations
aiming to improve the shape and optimize the effectiveness of
ethno-political prevention instruments are to be worked out.
Organization of the work
The project is carried out at the IFSH by Klemens B|scher M.A. and Dr.
Wolfgang Zellner (Head of project), who can take advice from a broad
network of German and foreign cooperation partners. Since May 1999 the
two Hamburg-based project researchers have been supported by one
permanently cooperating research fellow in each minority country.
In this international research team documents and various sources from
more than ten languages are to be analysed. The communication and
co-operation within the team is conducted mainly via e-mail.
THE TEAM
Dr. Wolfgang Zellner (Head of project, coordination Macedonia,
Romania, Slovakia), a sociologist and political scientist,
concentrates on security policy and minorities issues.
E-mail: [email protected]
Klemens B|scher, M.A. (coordination Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine), a
political scientist, works on a doctoral dissertation on transnational
relations of the Russian minorities in Moldova und Ukraine.
E-mail: [email protected]
Teuta Arifi, M.A. (Macedonia), is a linguist at the University of
Skopje. Between 1995 and 1997 she worked in various capacities in the
Macedonian foreign ministry.
Jekaterina Dorodnova, M.A. (Latvia), completed her degree in
International Relations and European Studies at the Central European
University in Budapest with a thesis on the Russian-speaking
population in the Baltics. E-mail: [email protected]
Istvan Horvath (Romania), a sociologist and philosopher at the
Research Center for Inter-Ethnic Relations in Cluj since 1993, will
soon complete his Ph.D. thesis on "Space, Time and Ethnicity".
Dr. Volodymyr Kulyk (Ukraine) is a political scientist at the
Institute for Political and Ethnic Studies in Kyiv focussing on
Ukrainian state-building and nation-building since 1986.
Dr. Ivo Samson (Slovakia), a political scientist, completed his Ph.D.
in 1997 at the University of Gie_en, Germany. He is working at the
Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association.
Margit Sarv, M.A. (Estonia), a political scientist, finished her
studies at the Central European University. She has been working
particularly on the Russian-speaking population in Estonia.
For further information on the project and on OSCE related research at
the IFSH please contact:
Dr. Wolfgang Zellner
Klemens B|scher M.A.
IFSH
Falkenstein 1
D - 22587 Hamburg, Germany
Tel.: +40 - 866 077 0
Fax: +40 - 866 36 15
e-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]
Publications
Wolfgang Zellner: On the Effectiveness of the OSCE Minority Regime.
Comparative Case Studies on Implementation of the Recommendations of
the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the OSCE, Hamburger
Beitrdge zur Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik, No. 111, April
1999 (also available in German).
IFSH
The Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University
of Hamburg was estab-lished in 1971 as a foundation based on civil
law.
Its founding Director General ret. Wolf Graf von Baudissin was
succeeded by former Federal Minister Egon Bahr in 1984. Current
Director of the IFSH is Prof. Dr. Dr. Dieter S. Lutz.
IFSH has presently a staff of some 25 individuals. The research staff
is complemented annually by Fellows from foreign research
institutions, military officers and civil servants from German
ministries.
Research Programme:
1. Conceptual and organizational aspects of the European security
architecture, including concepts of collective security as well as the
OSCE.
2. Arms control and disarmament with special focus on preventive and
cooperative arms control.
3. The transition process in Central and Eastern Europe.
4. The military, economic, ecological, techno-logical und
anthropological dimensions of global governance.
The Institute's work is available in several published series,
including
- the OSCE Yearbook
- the annual "Friedensgutachten" (Peace Opinions)-available online:
http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/ofsh/welcome.htm
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