Multilateral cooperation and confidence-building in cyberspace: The OSCE as a laboratory for cooperative cybersecurity

Nadja Douglas, Jonas Hemmelskamp and Simon Muschick

No 39/2026, SWP Comments from Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), German Institute for International and Security Affairs

Abstract: The number of cyber incidents involving state actors and state-controlled actors is rising worldwide - particularly in the OSCE region - yet the diplomatic instruments designed to contain such incidents receive comparatively little attention. The OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) and other regional organisations have adopted a range of confidence-building measures (CBMs) in the cyber domain that provide a basis for deeper multilateral cooperation. It remains unclear, however, to what extent these measures respond to the demands of a changing threat landscape. Cyber diplomacy also continues to face structural shortcomings, while perceptions of threats differ across regions. More fundamentally, the question arises as to the circumstances under which states cooperate in response to cyber incidents and when national sovereignty interests take precedence.

Keywords: Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe; OSCE; cyberattacks; cyber incidents; cooperation; cyber diplomacy; national sovereignty; confidence-building measures; EuRepoC; European Repository of Cyber Incidents; off-ramp thesis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:swpcom:344121

DOI: 10.18449/2026C39

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