The jury has come to a decision:
- Benjamin Schaller (Germany, Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø),
- Naomi Egel (USA, Cornell University)
- and Anastasia Prokhorova (Russian Federation, Central European University)
are the winners of the OSCE-IFSH Essay Competition. They received monetary and other prizes; the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) will furthermore publish their winning essays as part of its Strategic Security Analysis series. The two participants on fourth and fifth place received valuable book vouchers from the IFSH. The public announcement of the three finalists and award ceremony took place during the digital session of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation on 9 December 2020.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the IFSH, in cooperation with the GCSP, the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO) and the Vienna Centre for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP), launched the essay competition in March 2020. This joint initiative invited students and young professionals to submit their ideas on issues of conventional arms control and confidence- and security-building measures. Participants had to be nationals of OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation, and no older than 35 years of age. By the deadline of 1 July, the organizers received 96 entries from individuals in 36 OSCE participating States; 44% were female authors. Due to the high amount of thoughtful and high quality essays, the jury stated that the final agreement on the finalists was not easy.
For more information about the essay competition and the three winners, please see the OSCE’s website: https://www.osce.org/forum-for-security-cooperation/473136.