[Discussion] CONF.- Armenia/South Caucasus & Foreign Policy Challenges, Univ. of Michigan, Oct. 2004

[sule tarakcioglu]

CONF.- Armenia/South Caucasus & Foreign Policy Challenges
Oct. 21-24, 2004

International Conference at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Armenia/The South Caucasus and Foreign Policy Challenges

During four days in October the Ann Arbor campus of the University of
Michigan will become the gathering point for diplomats and scholars who,
for the past 15 years, have been involved in the shaping or study of the
foreign policies and conflict resolution processes of Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and Georgia.

The international conference, titled "Armenia/the South Caucasus and
Foreign Policy Challenges," is being organized by the Armenian Studies
Program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and will be held at
the main campus of the University on October 21-24, 2004. The conference
is co-sponsored by the International Institute, the Center for Middle
Eastern and North African Studies, the Center for Russian and East
European Studies, The Department of History, the Near Eastern Studies
Department and the Political Science Department.

This unique gathering will bring together some thirty-five scholars,
past and present diplomats, and conflict negotiators from over ten
countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Russia, Iran,
the European Union, Canada, and the US to discuss the challenges faced
by these republics in developing policies in a fast changing world, the
path traveled in resolving outstanding conflicts, with special emphasis
on the Nagorno Karabakh problem.

The conference will be open to the general public. All sessions will
provide ample opportunity for the attending public to participate in the
question and answer and discussion segments. Information on the
conference is available on the website of the University of Michigan
Armenian Studies Program, www.umich.edu/~iinet/asp/.  Inquiries can be
made by writing to Sara Sarkisian (sarkisia@umich.edu). All sessions
will take place at the Alumni Center, main campus.

The preliminary program of the conference follows.

International Conference
"Armenia/The South Caucasus and Foreign Policy Challenges"
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor/October 21-24, 2004

Preliminary Program
Thursday, October 21 - Day One
5:00 - 5:30 PM
OPENING
1. Prof. Gerard Libaridian
Department of History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Opening Remarks
2. Prof. Mark Tessler
Vice-Provost for International Affairs; Director of the International
Institute; Political Science Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Introduction to the Conference

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Panel I: Evolving International Relations and the South Caucasus

How have the collapse of the USSR and events of worldwide significance
since
affected our understanding of international relations and relations between
states? What has been the impact of these changes on the way states like
those in the South Caucasus integrate in the world community? How have
perceptions of the South Caucasus changed considering developments in the
Near East?

1. Dr. Vitaly Naumkin
Director, International Center for Strategic and Political Studies, Russia
2. Prof. Hadi Semati
International Relations Department, Tehran University
Currently at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, DC
3. Prof. Michael Kennedy
Department of Sociology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Friday, October 22 - Day Two
08:30 - 10:30 AM
Panel II: Armenian Foreign Policy in Historical Context

Can one speak of recurring foreign policy problems that have
characterized Armenian history ? Are there patterns in the way Armenians
have perceived, developed and practiced foreign policy during the past
two centuries? In what way are these questions relevant to post-Soviet
Armenia? What role has the Diaspora played in the making of Armenian
foreign policy?

1. Dr. Ashot Sargsyan
Senior Researcher in History, Matenadaran; Senior Archivist, President
Ter-Petrossian Archives, Armenia
2. Prof. Kevork Bardakjian
Near Eastern Studies Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
3. Prof. Ronald Suny
Department of History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
4. Dr. Razmik Panossian
Director, Policy and Programs, Rights and Democracy, Montreal

10:30 - 11:00 AM - Coffee break

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
PANEL III: The World as Seen by the South Caucasus

How do Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia perceive their region in relation
each other, to their neighbors, and to the larger community of states?
What do they see as their main challenges in their foreign policy agenda?

1. Ambassador Araz Azimov
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Azerbaijan
2. Ambassador Nika Tabatadze
First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Georgia
3. Ambassador Rouben Shugarian
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Armenia

2:00 - 3:30 PM
PANEL IV: The South Caucasus as Seen by the Regional Powers

What are the policies of the three major powers neighboring the South
Caucasus--Russia, Turkey and Iran-toward the South Caucasus? What is the
role of the region in the overall foreign policies of these three states
and how does it affect their relations with other states?

1. Prof. Hossein Seifzadeh
International Relations Department, Tehran University
2. Prof. Ahmet Han
International Relations Department, Bilgi University, Istanbul
3. Dr. Evgueny Kozhokin
Director, Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, Moscow

4:00 - 5:30 PM
Panel V: The South Caucasus as Seen by the West

What are the policies of Europe and the US toward the South Caucasus?
What is the role of the region in the overall foreign policies of the
West and how does it affect their relations with other states?

1. Dr. Svante Cornell
Uppsala University, Sweden, and SAIS, Johns Hopkins University,
Washington DC
2. Amb. Terhi Hakala
EU Special Representative to the South Caucasus, Finland
3. Mr. John Fox
Director of Caucasus and Central Asia Affairs, US Department of State

Saturday, October 23 - Day Three
8:30 - 10:00 AM
Panel VI: The Impact of the South Caucasus on the Study of International
Relations

Do developments in the South Caucasus since independence-including
problems of economic and political transformation, conflicts, and energy
transportation issues-compel us to revise our understanding of
international relations or are accepted models of relations between
states adequate?

1. Prof. Charles King
Political Science Department, Georgetown University, Washington DC
2. Prof. Stephen Jones
Department of Political Science, Mount Holyoke College
3. Mr. Asbed Kotchikian
Department of Political Science, Boston University

10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Panel VII: The World of Conflicts

How do we explain the high concentration of conflicts in the South
Caucasus? What are the similarities and differences between them? Which,
if any, of the conflict resolution approaches apply to the region? Is
international mediation the proper means to resolve these conflicts?

1. Dr. Ghia Nodia
Director, Center for Democracy and Peace, Tbilisi
2. Prof. Bruno Coppieters
Political Science Department, Free University of Brussels
3. Mr. Arman Grigorian
International Relations, Columbia University/Wesleyan University
4. Mr. Tom de Waal
Author; Institute for War and Peace Studies, London

2:00 - 6:00 PM
PANEL VIII: Nagorno Karabakh: A Case Study in Conflict Resolution in the
1990s - A Round Table discussion

How did the international community perceive the conflicts in the
region, especially the problem of Nagorno Karabakh? What was right and
what went wrong with the OSCE Minsk Group process charged with the
resolution of that conflict? What lessons can be learned from it?

How does the leadership of Nagorno Karabakh perceive the problem and the
solution?

1. Ambassador Vladimir Kazimirov
Former Karabakh negotiator for Russia, Moscow (retired)
2. Ambassador Omer Ersun
Former Karabakh negotiator for Turkey, Istanbul (retired)
3. Ambassador Joseph Presel
Former Karabakh negotiator for the US, Washington DC (retired)
4. Dr. Mahmood Vaezi
Deputy Director, Center for Strategic Research, Tehran
Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Iran
5. Ambassador Tofik Zulfugarov
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Karabakh negotiator, Azerbaijan
6. Ambassador David Shahnazaryan
Former Minister of National Security and Karabakh negotiator, Armenia

Special Presentation
7. Ashot Ghoulian
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nagorno Karabakh, Stepanakert

Sunday, October 24 - Day Four

9:00 - 11:00 AM
Panel IX: Reconciling the Past and the Future

How can we assess the path traveled by the South Caucasus republics?
What are the main similarities and differences in their foreign
policies? Is there need and/or room for a common foreign policy? What
should be the main focus at this time?

1. Dr. Leila Alieva
President, Center for National and International Studies, Baku
2. Dr. Archil Gegeshidze
Senior Research Fellow at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and
International Studies, Tbilisi; former advisor to President Edvard
Shevardnadze
4. Prof. Edward Walker
Political Science Department, University of California, Berkeley