ABSTRACT
Old and new regional international organisations are following common policies to build democratic security and human rights throughout the continent. The values for which the Council of Europe has worked for fifty years, pluralism, human rights, democracy and inter-cultural tolerance, are now central to the mandate of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union. The interest in and imperative for increased cooperation has been promoted partly by traumatic memories of Europe’s past conflicts and even genocides, but also by a sense that Europe has developed its culture from many sources, including Jewish, Christian and Muslim principles of humanity and tolerance.
