International Conference
October 2-3, 2006, Yerevan
On October 2-3, 2006, Center for Strategic Analysis SPECTRUM holds its fourth International Conference “The South Caucasus – 2006: the Main Trends of Development, Threats and Risks.”
Among the themes discussed at the Conference – evaluation of development of the states of the region within the Euro-Atlantic structures and perspectives of partner relations with NATO, European Union, Council of Europe, the issues of regional security – sources of instability and the ways to overcome, as well as expert assessment of the role of each state of the South Caucasus.
A special session is desiccated to the role of such powers as Russia , USA , Turkey , Iran , China – in the regional security system. Two round tables are dedicated to the geopolitical perspectives of the region and the new challenges and opportunities for the South Caucasus .
Among the participants of the Conference will be the Armenian and foreign independent experts and political researchers, representing the leading research centers of Armenia , Azerbaijan , Georgia , Germany , Ukraine , Turkey , USA , Russia , China , Iran , international organizations concerned – NATO (Amb. Jean Fournet, Assistant Secretary General of NATO for Public Diplomacy – direct video-link with Brussels ), European Union (Amb. Peter Semneby, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus), OSCE, Council of Europe, as well as appropriate Ministries and bodies of the Republic of Armenia .
The Conference is organized with the financial support of the Public Diplomacy Division of NATO and Ministry of Foreign Affaires of Finland, as well as with participation of the US and Greek Embassies in Armenia .
The program of the conference
October 2, 2006
| 9.30 – 10.00 | Registration |
| 10.00 – 10.20 | Opening addresses: Dr. Gayane Novikova, Director, Center for Strategic Analysis SPECTRUM H.E. Amb. Arman Kirakossian, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Mr. Anthony F. Godfrey, the Charge d’Affaires a.i. of United States in Armenia MG Dr. Hayk Kotanjian, Advisor on Defence Policy to the Minister of Defence of Armenia (TBC) |
| PANEL A: | EURO-ATLANTIC AND EUROPEAN PROSPECTS FOR THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: PROSPECTS FOR PARTNERSHIP |
| Session № 1 | |
| Moderator: | Dr. Gayane Novikova |
| 10.20- 10.40 | Key Note Speaker Amb. Peter Semneby, EU Special Representativefor the South Caucasus |
| 10.40 –11.00 | Questions to the speaker |
| 11.00 – 11.30 | Coffee break |
| Session № 2 | Partnership in reality |
| Moderator: | Despina-Ino Afentouli, Regional Coordinator for the Caucasus, NATO Public Diplomacy Division |
| 11.30 – 11.50 | Ms. Bojana Urumova, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe |
| 11.50 – 12.10 | Amb. Vladimir Pryakhin, Head of the OSCE office in Armenia |
| 12.10 – 12.30 | Dr. Jorg Himmelreich, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, Berlin |
| 12.30 – 12.50 | Dr. Sharyl Cross, Professor of the George C.Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany |
| 12.50 – 13.30 | Questions to the speakers |
| 13.30 – 13.45 | Key note speaker Amb. Jean Fournet, Deputy Secretary General of NATO (video-link with Brussels) |
| 13.45 – 15.15 | Lunch |
| 15.15 – 16.30 | Discussion: Geopolitical prospects of the region |
| Moderator: | Amb. Shalva Pichkhadze, Chairman of “Georgia for NATO” |
| Discussants: | MG Dr. Hayk Kotanjian, Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies, Yerevan, Armenia (TBC) Dr. Ashot Voskanian, Adviser of the Minister of the Foreign Affairs of Armenia (TBC) Dr. Alexander Iskandarian, CMI, Yerevan, Armenia Mikhail Samus, Expert of Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies (CACDS), Kiev, Ukraine |
| 19.00 – 21.00 | Reception in honor of the participants of the Conference |
| October 3, 2006 | |
| PANEL B. | GEOPOLITICAL REALITIES IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS |
| Session № 1 | The Regional Environment: Sources of Instability – Prospects of Conflict or Reconciliation? |
| Moderator: | Ashot Melyan, Expert of the Center for Strategic Analysis SPECTRUM |
| 9.30 – 9.50 | Dr. Vyacheslav Igrunov, Director of the Institute for Humanities and Political Studies, Moscow, Russia |
| 9.50 – 10.10 | Amb. Irakli Menagarishvili, Director of the Strategic Research Centre, Tbilisi, Georgia |
| 10.10 – 10.30 | Dr. Leila Alieva, President of the Center for National and International Studies, Baku, Azerbaijan |
| 10.30 – 11.00 | Coffee break |
| 11.00 – 11.20 | Dr.Farhad Atai, Professor of the Tehran University, Tehran, Iran |
| 11.20 – 11.40 | Amb. Murat Bilhan, Kulture University, Istanbul, Turkey |
| 11.40 – 12.00 | Dr. Gayane Novikova, Director, Center for Strategic Analysis SPECTRUM |
| 12.00 – 12.30 | Questions to speakers |
| 12.30 – 14.00 | Lunch |
| Session № 2 | The South Caucasus Between the Poles of Power |
| 14.00 – 14.20 | Richard Giragosian, Spectrum Contributing Analyst, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Jane’s Information Group, Washington, USA |
| 14.20 – 14.40 | LTC (Ret.) Sergey Sargsyan, Center for Strategic Analysis Spectrum |
| 14.40 – 15.00 | Questions to speakers |
| 15.00 – 15.30 | Coffee break
|
| 15.30 – 16.30 | Round Table: New Challenges and Opportunities for the South Caucasus |
| Moderator: | Dr. Gayane Novikova, Director |
| Discussants: | Amb. Shalva Pichkhadze, Chairman of “Georgia for NATO” Dr. Ruben Safrastyan, Center for Strategic Analysis Spectrum LTC (Ret.) Dmitry Shtiblikov, Deputy Director of the Center NOMOS, Simferopol, Ukraine Dr. Tong Gang, Correspondent on Transcaucasia and Caspian Region, China Youth Daily, Beijing, China |
| 16.30-16.45 | Closure of the Conference
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