At the invitation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA), RSC Director Richard Giragosian participated in the “Rose-Roth” NATO PA seminar in Baku from 16-18 June. Giragosian was invited as an independent speaker to present an analysis of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict at the seminar, which was entitled the “South Caucasus: Challenges and Opportunities.” The RSC director accompanied the official Armenian parliamentary delegation, which was led by Koryun Nahapetyan, the head of the Armenian delegation to the NATO PA and the Chairman of the Armenian Parliamentary Committee on Defence, National Security and Internal Affairs, and included Tevan Poghosyan, an opposition deputy and a fellow member of the Armenian delegation to the NATO PA.

On 12 June 2014, the Regional Studies Center (RCS) and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) convened a special public discussion/seminar entitled “NATO: Challenges and Visions.” The event was held in the Marriott Hotel on Thursday, 12 June 2014 from 16:00-18:00, and included presentations by Dr. Karl A. Lamers, the Vice-President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Deputy Chairman of the Defence Committee of the German Bundestag, and Mr. Koryun Nahapetyan, the Head of the Armenian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the Chairman of the Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs of the Armenian National Assembly.

RSC Director Richard Giragosian provided a briefing on recent developments in Armenia and the broader South Caucasus region to a visiting group of students and facility members form the UK Royal College of Defence Studies on June 2, 2014.  Giragosian offered an assessment of significant trends in regional security, with an added analysis of domestic drivers and determinants of Armenian foreign policy.  The RSC Director joined Ambassador Traian Hristea, the head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Oleksandr Pavlyuk, the head of the Council of Europe office in Armenia, Carel Hofstra of Counterpart International and Ms. Genya Petrosyan from the office of the Armenian Human Rights Defender, or Ombudsman, as part of a larger panel briefing for the visitors.

The Regional Studies Center (RSC) held its latest closed monthly briefing on April 30, consisting of a comprehensive analysis of recent political, economic and military security trends in the region, but with a detailed assessment of the new Armenian government, as well as an added report on recent RSC events and working visits to Tbilisi and Turkey.

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The RSC staff briefed a visiting delegation from the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship on April 16.  RSC Director Richard Giragosian and Resident Fellow Linn Nettelvik from the Swedish Defense College offered an analysis of the Nagorno Karabakh mediation effort, centering on the military balance of power and an objective assessment of the OSCE peace process.  The RSC also offered several concrete proposals related to confidence-building measures and ideas for a de-escalation of tension and ceasefire violations.  The Swiss delegation was led by Ambassador Angelo Gnädinger, the OSCE Special Representative for the South Caucasus, and included Christian Disler, Political Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the OSCE, and Martin Schuster, Policy Support Officer at the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre (CPC) in Vienna.  Swiss Ambassador to Armenia, Lukas Gasser, also accompanied the delegation and attended the briefing.