Dr. David Shahnazaryan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, is a Senior Analyst, providing strategic guidance, innovative analysis, and specific support for the Regional Studies Center (RSC), an independent “thin tank” located in Yerevan, Armenia. In his capacity as Senior Analyst, Dr. Shahnazaryan is engaged in several projects, including RSC efforts in support of “normalizing” relations between Armenia and Turkey and our ongoing engagement and collaborative research with experts and analysts from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Furthermore, he serves as a regular interlocutor with our Turkish partners and colleagues, as well as with several different institutions of the Republic of Turkey. He is also supporting our research and analysis on a wide range of broader regional issues, such as security in the South Caucasus, Russian interests in the region, and EU policy priorities for the Eastern Partnership region, among others.
More recently, Dr. Shahnazaryan has also supported our project activities focused on security within the broader Black Sea region and the Middle East, and is an active contributor to our efforts in support of developing and deepening Armenian relations with the European Union. He is also the leader of our effort of engagement, as a “track two” model of dialogue and discussion, of our colleagues and counterparts from Azerbaijan, a process that includes a number of notable academics, experts and retired officials from Azerbaijan.
As a prominent experts on the region, he is widely cited by various media outlets in Armenia, but also throughout the former Soviet Union, including the South Caucasus region and Ukraine, as well as internationally, and is a regular commentator for leading analytical centers and publications in Europe, Turkey the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. He is also a member of Stratfor’s Board of Contributors, and is a frequent contributor to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) publications, as well as a regular commentator for TV and electronic news outlet throughout the region.
Shahnazaryan is also the Founder & Chairman of the Center for Legal and Political Studies “Concord,” and is a former two-term deputy in the Armenian parliament (from 1991-1995 and 1995-1999), as well as a founding member of the Board of the “Armenian National Movement” Party. He has also held several senior-level posts in the Armenian government, serving as the Ambassador of the President of Armenia on Special Missions and Special Representative of the President of Armenia from 1992-1995, and as the Armenian Minister of National Security from 1994-1995.
And as an integral effort of his non-governmental organization, the Center for Legal and Political Studies “Concord,” he has also convened a high-level security conference for prominent experts and officials from throughout the former Soviet Union and the broader region, including from Iran, Turkey, Russia, Europe, Ukraine and the United States. That annual conference series is now entering its 14th year of consecutive and consistent events, and has become a regular event for a generation of leaders and officials in the region.