Ms. Egel came second in the competition. She learned about the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) through her research on multilateral weapons governance. In her opinion, the OSCE is a unique political grouping of countries that offers a distinctive approach to governing the production, possession, and use of different weapons. She found however, that scholars studying arms control, non-proliferation, and disarmament often overlook the role of the OSCE. Therefore, she began to examine the OSCE’s history in this area, as well as its unique organizational structure and political dynamics.

Egel’s essay focused on the rise of the importance of autonomous weapons systems (AWS) in military operations and how this could increase the risk of inadvertent escalation. Her essay brought innovative ideas forward on how the OSCE should develop confidence-building measures (CBMs) for AWS. Her essay highlighted that the OSCE has a strong history of creating CBMs for other types of weapons and is therefore uniquely positioned to develop CBMs for AWS. She wrote that by doing so, the OSCE would be contributing to reducing the risks AWS pose.