Journal Articles

The Russian Threat against Ukraine: A Long History and an Uncertain Future

by Stefan Wolff | 26 January 2022 | Confidence Building in the OSCE Region, Geopolitics in Eastern Europe, Ukraine | 0 Comments

Related NotesThe current escalation of tensions between Russia and Ukraine is the latest chapter in a long saga of deteriorating relations dating back almost two decades. From a Western perspective, the key moments are Putin’s infamous speech at the Munich Security...

Ukraine: a country wounded by eight years of crisis

by Stefan Wolff | 20 January 2022 | Confidence Building in the OSCE Region, Geopolitics in Eastern Europe, Ukraine | 0 Comments

Related NotesThe Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2014 after pro-European protesters toppled the government of the Moscow-backed president Victor Yanukovych. This led to a rapid escalation of a crisis that resulted in the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014 and...

Is there a future for cooperation between the OSCE and China?

by Stefan Wolff | 20 December 2021 | China, Confidence Building in the OSCE Region, Geopolitics in Eastern Europe | 0 Comments

Related Notes At first glance, there is little that connects China and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Organization emerged as a platform for dialogue between East and West during the Cold War and was transformed into a permanent...

Territorial self-governance and separatism: The case of (eastern) Ukraine

by Stefan Wolff | 7 December 2021 | Public Policy Reports | 0 Comments

Territorial self-governance can take many forms, from federation, to federacy, to devolution. Provided the conditions are right, it can contribute to conflict prevention and settlement. Ukraine exhibits many characteristics in which the application of territorial...

Conflict-Solving Mechanisms and Negotiation Formats for Post-Soviet Protracted Conflicts

by Stefan Wolff | 11 November 2021 | Public Policy Reports | 0 Comments

Existing negotiation formats for post-Soviet protracted conflicts have failed to reach their ultimate objective of reaching sustainable settlements. However, as I argue in this report for the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies at the Swedish Institute of...

Strengthening the OSCE through Enhanced EU-OSCE Cooperation

by Stefan Wolff | 1 October 2021 | Journal Articles | 0 Comments

Can the OSCE be regenerated through enhanced cooperation with the EU, and if so, how? With Europe’s security order becoming ever more fragile, the EU and the OSCE face very different political and structural challenges. While the EU’s new Strategic Compass emphasizes...

The OSCE’s Afghanistan Challenge

by Stefan Wolff | 8 September 2021 | Afghanistan, China, Confidence Building in the OSCE Region | 0 Comments

Related NotesThe Taliban takeover of Afghanistan poses three specific sets of challenges for the OSCE and its participating States: instability in Afghanistan; the resultant threats to regional security and stability, especially for the three Central Asian OSCE...

Mission (Im)Possible? UN Military Peacekeeping Operations in Civil Wars

by Stefan Wolff | 30 August 2021 | Journal Articles | 0 Comments

Under what conditions can UN military peacekeeping operations (PKOs) succeed in contexts of civil war? Together with my colleagues Darya Pushkina and Markus Siewert, I explore this important question in light of the prevalence and cost of civil wars and the high, yet...

Pawns, Partners, and “Smart Leadership”: Ukraine’s Opportunities in the China-Russia-West Triangle

by Stefan Wolff | 26 May 2021 | China, Geopolitics in Eastern Europe, Ukraine | 0 Comments

Related NotesThe increasingly three-sided competition for influence between China, Russia, and the West has arguably created a new space for autonomous decisionmaking when it comes to strategic geoeconomic choices in Kyiv’s foreign policy. As China’s economic...

China: A Challenge or an Opportunity for the OSCE?

by Stefan Wolff | 22 April 2021 | China, Confidence Building in the OSCE Region, Geopolitics in Eastern Europe | 0 Comments

Related NotesAs China, Russia, and the West now represent three rival great powers competing for influence in Eurasia, participating States’ narratives on China are polarised, driven, in part, by fundamentally different underpinning value systems. However, regardless...