In a speech on 23 July to the OSCE Reinforced Permanent Council, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ronald Asmus emphasised the need to strengthen the OSCE's capability to play the role envisaged for it under the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris. Rapid deployment of skilled civilian expertise is essential to effective conflict prevention, crisis management, and post-conflict rehabilitation. We must commit to make national contingents of experts, trained to OSCE standards and specifications, available in such OSCE functional areas as democratization, human rights, policing, and elections. These teams could be used as surge capacity in crises, rapid deployment when political agreements are reached, and crisis prevention . . . Another tool is strengthened policing capabilities that will allow the OSCE to be our organisation of choice for appropriate missions in the OSCE region.
Peacekeeping involves a different type of training, and capabilities.