Since our founding as an independent think tank in 2012, the Regional Studies Center (RSC) has been actively supporting “track two” dialogue and collaborative engagement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As an independent think tank based in Armenia, our efforts and activities in support of Armenia-Azerbaijan engagement align with our record of work conducting a wide range of strategic analysis and objective research, implements a number of educational and policy-related projects, and develops policy initiatives aimed at bolstering political and economic reform and conflict resolution in the broader South Caucasus region.
The RSC is actively engaged in the public policy process and seeks to serve as a catalyst for democratic reform and sustainable economic development through the empowerment of civil society and by contributing to the formulation of public policy through innovative and objective research, analysis and policy recommendations.
More specifically, our latest project, entitled, “Bridging the Divide: Armenia-Azerbaijan Engagement,” seeks to expand “track two” people-to-people contact and enhance confidence-building measures between civil society actors in Armenia and Azerbaijan. This project seeks to leverage the synergy from our earlier track two efforts while initiating new, more innovative and bold measures aimed at challenging the negative narrative and discourse, defending moderate voices, deepening mutual understanding and exploring new opportunities for engagement. With the generous support of the German Marshall Fund’s (GMF) Black Sea Trust (BST), we have launched the latest round of this project, running through February 2018.