University of Bath, Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies

The University of Bath Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies contribution to research on European security focuses on three issues. The first is the structural changes in European security such as the changing power dimensions of post-Cold War Europe, ethnic conflict in Europe, and the role of religion in European affairs. The second is in the changing nature of security institutions, such as the EU as a security provider and the conflict and crisis within the OSCE and its region.

In particular, Prof David Galbreath’s research on the OSCE has been ongoing since 2003, with several journal articles and books on the OSCE and its institutions. This research has revolved around several issues. The first is the role of the OSCE as a minority rights protector. The OSCE goes further than any other international organization in reserving an office specifically for the attention on minority issues. This research has examined how the OSCE plays this role in relation to the larger imperatives of ethno-nationalist conflict in the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union in addition to the organization’s role in the European integration process. The underpinning argument is that the relationship between the OSCE, EU and Council of Europe form what can be referred to as an international regime to engage and protect the rights of minorities in Europe. Conceptually, this is interesting because the literature understands inter-international organization relations so little as they do not fit easily within traditional approaches to international relations in general and international regimes specifically. Prof Galbreath has been consulted by the US Department of State, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities.

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Prof. David Galbreath is Professor of International Security at the University of Bath and Editor-in-Chief of European Security. His work on the OSCE and the European security architecture has appeared on many reading lists in the UK, Europe and the United States. The book on the OSCE (Routledge 2007) was published in the highly regarded series ‘Global Institutions’, edited by Thomas Weiss and Rorden Wilkenson. He has written extensively on the OSCE and in particular the High Commissioner on National Minorities. His expertise has been consulted by the UK and US governments in addition to the OSCE Secretariat and the High Commissioner’s office. Most recently, he participated at the OSCE Security Days on changing nature of security in the OSCE area.