I had the pleasure to brief the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) at their offices in Vienna, Austria last week. With 56 States drawn from Europe, Central Asia and America, the OSCE is the world's largest regional security organization, bringing comprehensive and co-operative security to a region that stretches from Vancouver to Vladivostok. It offers a forum for political negotiations and decision-making in the fields of early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation, and puts the political will of the participating States into practice through its unique network of field missions. This is a very unique organization in that it is the only cooperative security body in the region that includes both NATO members and Russia.
A copy of my presentation is available here /CCGOSCE.pps. It was well received with several follow-on questions from the Ambassadors from Austria, Ukraine, Spain, Luxembourg and Russia.
The Ambassador from Georgia publicly thanked us for the delivery of humanitarian aid by the Coast Guard Cutter Dallas.
