Shortly after the end of the fall term, a group of MA students from the Department of International Relations visited the Vienna headquarters of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
In his welcoming remarks, Radomir Bohac, Chairman of the Permanent Council told ambassadors of the 57 participating countries that their meeting was observed by a group of students from Central European University who demonstrated interest in the work OSCE does.
Professor Paola Severino, Special Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Corruption began delivering the annual report of her activities by extending her personal welcome to CEU students. She said that as a professor and Vice-President of LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome she found the presence of CEU students particularly important because it was crucial that students and future academics were interested in the issues OSCE covers.
Students, most of them from OSCE countries, also learned of the organization’s history and operations, and its economic and environmental pillar in particular. Staying true to the critical approach CEU encourages, they were asking tough questions about OSCE’s relevance and impact.
In a way, the discussion followed seamlessly from the special seminar on CEU's Quellenstrasse campus where students debated the role of international organizations and institutions, the strengths and weaknesses of various of institutionalism concepts, and the ebbs and flows of OSCE’s relevance, based on scholarly readings. The idea was to observe the workings of theoretical concepts in real-life situations, underlining the notion that theory provides a useful toolkit for practitioners, too.
The visit was rounded off by a lunch in the rooftop canteen of the Palace of Justice with views to the city that becomes the home of all MA programs of the Department of International Relations from September 2020.
