© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI: 10.1163/15718069-12341237 International Negotiation 17 (2012) 389–415 brill.com/iner he Possibilities and Limitations of Preventive Action: he OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities in Ukraine Angela Kachuyevski* Department of Historical and Political Studies, Arcadia University, 450 South Easton Road, Glenside, PA 19038, USA (E-mail: kachuyea@arcadia.edu) Received 13 November 2011; accepted 23 July 2012 Abstract his article examines the efforts of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to manage tensions in Ukraine between the substantial Russian minority and the Ukrainian government, and to prevent potentially violent con- flict in Crimea from 1994 to 2001, as well as the subsequent efforts to promote peace and stability. It questions why the HCNM was remarkably successful in crisis management from 1994 to 2001, espe- cially in averting secessionism in Crimea, but was hampered in his efforts to achieve a solid foundation for durable peace through the creation of a robust system of minority rights protection. he central argu- ment is that regional politics often preclude the construction of a minority rights regime that could oth- erwise provide the foundation for durable peace. Keywords conflict prevention, quiet diplomacy, Ukraine, Russia, OSCE, HCNM his article examines the efforts of the High Commissioner on National Minori- ties (HCNM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to manage tensions in Ukraine between the substantial Russian minority and the Ukrainian government, and to prevent potentially violent conflict in Crimea from 1994 to 2001, as well as the subsequent efforts to promote peace and stability. he aspects of this conflict are not only internal, but also regional, as Russian and Ukrainian interests and policies have been often pitted against each other. he multi-layered nature of the conflict has both elevated the impor- tance of finding durable solutions and complicated the search for peace. HCNM * ) Angela Kachuyevski specializes in international negotiation, conflict resolution and international secu- rity studies. She has lived and worked in Russia on grassroots democratization and peace-building initiatives, and has contributed to numerous conflict prevention and ethnic conflict management research projects. She received her Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.