On 3 October, the Regional Studies Center (RSC) held a special diplomatic simulation exercise, focusing on negotiations roleplay using the case study of the Northern Ireland conflict, with lessons for Nagorno Karabakh.

Led by RSC Analyst Mikayel Zolyan in the capacity of Project Coordinator, the RSC is engaged in a new two-year research project entitled, “In Search of a Foundation Myth: State-building and Representations of the Events 1988-1991 in the Political Discourse of the Republic of Armenia.” This new research project is conducted for the Academic Swiss Caucasus Net (ASCN), in a programme aimed at “strengthening research in the social sciences and humanities in the South Caucasus and helping to bring it up to European standards.”

The Regional Studies Center (RSC) and the UK Embassy in Armenia convened a public event on 17 September to offer an assessment of the NATO Wales Summit, with a focus on the implications for Armenia and the South Caucasus. The event featured presentations by UK Ambassador Kathy Leach, Mr. Willian Lahue, the Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia, NATO/PFP Liaison Officer in South Caucasus; Mr. Koryun Nahapetyan, Chairman of the Armenian Parliamentary Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs; RSC Senior Analyst David Shahnazaryan; and RSC Director Richard Giragosian.

On 5-6 September 2014, RSC Director Richard Giragosian participated in a two-day joint workshop on “Strategies and Models for Rapprochement with the European Union,” organized by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) in cooperation with the Committee on European Integration of the Parliament of Georgia and the Association “European Time” NGO. Facilitated by Dr. Canan Atilgan, the head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in the South Caucasus, the workshop was attended by parliamentary staff members from Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

In the wake of a series of clashes that were seen as the most serious violations of the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire in two decades, the Regional Studies Center (RSC) formally endorsed a public “call for peace in Karabakh” issued on 9 August.