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.

The Regional Studies Center (RSC) held its latest closed monthly briefing on March 26, providing an analysis of recent political, economic and military security trends in Armenia, but with an added focus on the implications from Russian aggression against Ukraine, followed by an informal “off-the-record” closed discussion (see briefing summary notes below).

The Regional Studies Center (RSC) held its latest closed monthly briefing on February 26, providing an analysis of recent political, economic and military security trends in Armenia, but with an added focus on recent developments in Ukraine, followed by an informal “off-the-record” closed discussion.

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In the latest in a regular series of special closed briefings on pressing issues, the Regional Studies Center (RSC) convened a special presentation and discussion on February 21 assessing developments in Ukraine. The briefing featured three specific presentations, followed by an open discussion (for more details, see the accompanying event summary notes):

The Regional Studies Center (RSC) held a special briefing on 23 January, offering a special assessment of the upcoming Armenian presidential election. The briefing presentation focused on five specific aspects of the Armenian pre-election situation: (1) general pre-election observations; (2) an analysis of the election campaign; (3) an identification of five specific election challenges; (4) implications from the election; and (5) election surprises.