Abstract
This Article diagnoses a systemic erosion of rights-based multilateralism driven by geopolitical realignment, reduced leadership by traditional human rights defenders, the rise of authoritarian coalitions, and the growth of transactional and securitized diplomacy. This Article argues that revitalizing the Organization for the Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) around a rights-centered, cross-dimensional concept of security is essential to restoring both regional stability and the credibility of international human rights commitments. It places the war in Ukraine within broader patterns of democratic backsliding, institutional paralysis, and the rise of authoritarian governance, demonstrating how domestic repression and interstate aggression mutually reinforce one another. It argues that without deliberate, coordinated action, the international system will normalize exclusionary and militarized responses at the expense of universal rights — with disproportionate harm to marginalized groups and smaller nations. It concludes that replenishing the human-rights agenda within the OSCE is not ancillary to peacebuilding but central to constructing a durable, just, and resilient European security order in the aftermath of war.
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