On 14 March, the Regional Studies Center (RSC), an independent think tank in Yerevan, convened its latest in a series of special “Focus Groups.” In coordination with a visiting group of graduate students from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington (GW) University, one of the leading graduate schools in international affairs in the United States, this latest Focus Group was focused on a discussion of one main theme: “Reformulating Western Policy toward Russia in the Post-Soviet Space.” The GW group was visiting Armenia as part of their Capstone Research project, which consists of three country-specific case studies: Armenia, Estonia and Ukraine.
This month’s Focus Group was larger than usual and included observers from the European Union (EU) Delegation to Armenia, as well as diplomatic staff from the Embassies of Japan, Switzerland and the United States.
Similar to our previous RSC “focus group” sessions, which offer an interactive “out of the box” discussion assessing various issues of critical importance for Armenia, the proceedings and recommendations developed in the Focus Group will also form the basis of a subsequent policy report.