Author Description

The institutional foundations of cooperative security in Europe and the rules and principles they represent are rapidly disappearing. Both Russia and the West are starting to prefer deterrence to cooperative security. This spirit is also beginning to pervade economic relations and inter-societal interactions. Other countries increasingly see this confrontation as a threat to their own security. Attempts to restore a normative approach to international governance -- rules and principles, whether based on shared values or not -- would appear to require a significant lessening of current tensions first. This report, therefore, argues that interim rules of the road in the security, economic and social fields, based on current realities and currently shared interests, are needed to help reduce those tensions: a modus vivendi that allows the sides to retain their principled positions on the European order, and how they believe it is threatened; but that also allows for the mitigation and containment of existing conflicts. This will not produce as much stability as a norms-based regime, and may result in less human security for individuals, but it can pave the way for serious discussions that can lead to a return to norms and principles as a guiding force for the European order. The ideas in this paper are based on fifteen national narratives produced by institutions affiliated with this Network and which will be published separately.