2018-09-18

Roundtable on “Perceptions of OSCE in Europe and the US“

On 17 September the OSCE Academy and Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in Kyrgyzstan organized a roundtable for the MA students of Politics and Security Programme on the presentation of two publications issued by the FES office in Vienna. Dr. Alexander Wolters, Director of the OSCE Academy and Mr. Alexander Rosenplänter, Director of FES in Bishkek, welcomed students and introduced Dr. Alexandra Dienes. Dr. Dienes is a research associate at the FES Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe, in Vienna, and she focuses on economic aspects of regional security and cooperation and coordinates the network of young experts FLEET (Fresh Look on Eastern European Trends). During the roundtable Dr. Dienes presented the publications “Perceptions of OSCE in Europe and the US” and “Islands of Cooperation” and informed more about the activities within the framework of the FLEET project. Following the presentations, Dr. Emilbek Joroev, Academy Senior Lecturer, discussed his views of the publications and the question of OSCE politics in general. The roundtable was concluded by a Q&A session, in which students had a chance to ask their questions about the role of the OSCE in Afghanistan and possible forms of cooperation; the consensus principle and its positive and negatives sides; the role of the Ukrainian crisis in regaining the political relevance of the organization, and many more.