Rethinking Security: What the OSCE’s Decline Teaches U.S. Peace Advocates
“A secure world cannot be built on fear, deterrence, or domination. It must be built on cooperation, dignity, and justice.”
Fifty years ago, the Helsinki Final Act marked a bold turning point in international diplomacy. Signed in 1975 by 35 nations—including the U.S. and the Soviet Union—it was a promise that peace could be pursued through dialogue, not domination. What began as the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) would evolve into the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), an institution designed to uphold human rights, prevent conflict, and heal the divisions of a post-war world.`
But today, as highlighted in the Security and Human Rights Monitor’s new publication The Final Act? The Legacy and Future of the Helsinki Principles and the OSCE at 50, that promise is unraveling. The OSCE finds itself weakened—undermined by militarization, nationalist agendas, and especially, the war in Ukraine. Cooperative security, once the foundation of Europe’s peace architecture, is being eroded by the very forces the Helsinki framework was built to overcome.
At the Peace Economy Project, we see this moment not as an obituary for peace, but as a wake-up call.
The U.S. Role in the Collapse of Cooperative Security
The United States played a key role in shaping the Helsinki process—and now plays a key role in its undoing.
While Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is rightly condemned, we must also confront how decades of NATO expansion, ballooning U.S. military budgets, and growing arms exports have contributed to an international climate of fear and escalation.
Rather than investing in diplomacy, development, and disarmament, the U.S. continues to pour billions into weapons systems and war. The result? A world where peace frameworks like the OSCE are hollowed out—starved of support, overshadowed by militarized “solutions,” and treated as symbolic rather than essential.
The Peace Economy Alternative
The OSCE’s “baskets” (security, economic cooperation, and human rights) mirror the very pillars of a peace economy.
They recognize that true security comes not from weapons, but from:
- Transparent governance
- Human dignity
- Economic fairness
- Respect for national sovereignty and self-determination
Now more than ever, U.S. peace advocates must speak up—not just to decry war, but to reclaim the vision that Helsinki offered: a world where diplomacy leads, not lags behind conflict.
What We’re Calling For
At Peace Economy Project, we urge the public, policymakers, and fellow civil society organizations to:
- Reinvest in diplomacy. Demand funding for peacebuilding institutions—both international (like the OSCE) and domestic.
- Divest from militarism. Call for reduced Pentagon budgets and redirection of resources to healthcare, housing, education, and climate resilience.
- Educate your community. Use this anniversary to teach about the history of the Helsinki Final Act and why it still matters.
- Support global cooperation. Join coalitions that push for renewed international agreements on arms control, cybersecurity, and human rights.
A Final Act, or a New Beginning?
The OSCE’s 50th anniversary should not be a eulogy. It should be a rallying cry.
We can still honor the legacy of the Helsinki Final Act by advancing a new peace agenda—one that prioritizes people over profit, diplomacy over destruction, and justice over geopolitics.
Let’s write the next chapter together. A peace economy isn’t just possible—it’s necessary.
Learn more about our work at www.peaceeconomyproject.org and join our upcoming webinar: “End Illegal Troop Deployments in Our Communities” on September 10, 2025.
