OSCE conflict management and the Kyrgyz experience in 2010: advanced potentials, lack of will, limited options

The paper describes the key features that make OSCE conflict management different from the respective activities of other international organizations: strengthening democracy, protecting human rights, and intervening in internal security matters of the participating States. The paper looks into the OSCE's period of "rapid institutionalization" between 1992 and 1995 and arrives at the finding that since the Istanbul Summit in 1999 and the OSCE's operational peak in 2001, the cutback and depoliticization of the Organization have had direct implications for its shrinking capabilities in managing conflict, especially for its efforts in Kyrgyzstan in 2010. The second part of the paper analyses the pattern of conflict in Kyrgyzstan, and the OSCE's role during the events in the country in 2010. (IFSH/Pll)