International Conference on Global Security Studies
will be held in Yerevan
23-06-2016 00:22:54 | Armenia | Announcements
Yerevan, Armenia: On June 24-25, 2016 an international young scholar conference titled “Local Roots of Global Peace” will be held at Eurasia International University in Yerevan (EIU) (address: 24/2 Azatutyun Ave., Yerevan, Armenia). Undergraduate and graduate students from Armenia and around the world will present research to receive feedback from experienced researchers and authoritative analysts in security studies from United States, United Kingdom and Armenia. In addition to Armenia, where the conference is hosted, applications to present at the conference were submitted from Sweden, Serbia, Poland, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Sweden, Turkey and United States. Conference agenda is attached with this Press Announcement along with biographies of the conference organizers.
Introductory comments will be delivered by the RA Minister of Education and Science Mr. Levon Mkrtchyan and the Keynote Address will be delivered by H.E. Mr. Piotr Antoni Świtalski, Ambassador, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Armenia.
The conference is jointly sponsored by Stonehill College (Massachusetts, USA), Eurasia Partnership Foundation (Armenia), and Eurasia International University (Armenia). English is the working language of the conference.
In terms of content, local dimensions of global security challenges are the overarching theme of the conference. In essence, the globalized world has become both more and less peaceful. The end of the Cold War gave rise to new forms of conflict as well as cooperation; to increasingly globalized crime as well as supranational responses to them. The steep decline in inter-state wars and parallel, yet more intermittent, reduction in civil wars, has been an encouraging trend worldwide. Yet, in more immediate terms, humanitarian emergencies such as the Syrian civil war are still raging. Outside of the Middle East, other areas with frozen and active conflicts, de facto states, and unstable peace are creating instability, whether in post-Communist spaces or Central Africa. Whether in post-war Central America or Western Balkans, political solutions to armed conflicts developed a tendency to mutate to terrorism, corruption and organized crime such as trafficking in humans, drugs and weapons. The purpose of this conference is to make sense of these seemingly disparate and contradictory trends.
In terms of programmatic goals, the conference aims to contribute to building research capacities in social sciences in Armenia, by connecting established scholars and analysts to younger generation of researchers.
The conference is annual, and aims to become a mentored space for advanced undergraduate and graduate students as they receive valuable feedback from scholars and global security studies analysts. Please see the attached agenda for the list of topics and names of discussants.
AGENDA
THE LOCAL ROOTS OF GLOBAL PEACE:
Junior Voices International Conference on Global Security Studies
June 24-25th, 2016
Sponsored by Stonehill College (USA), Eurasia Partnership Foundation (Armenia) and
Eurasia International University (Armenia)
Conference Venue: Eurasia International University
The conference is free and open to public. The deadline for registration to attend the conference is June 20th. For registration, please contact Asya Hayrapetyan at info@eiu.am or call at 29-90-88. Conference Background
The end of the Cold War gave rise to new forms of conflict as well as cooperation; to increasingly globalized crime as well as supranational responses to them. The steep decline in inter-state wars and
parallel, yet more intermittent, reduction in civil wars, has been an encouraging trend worldwide. Yet, in more immediate terms, humanitarian emergencies such as the Syrian civil war are still raging, with the
death toll conservatively estimated by the United Nations at around 250,000 in 2014 and refugee flows of over 4.5 million. With evidence of both terror from above and terror from below in Syria and Iraq,
these crises have far reaching implications outside of the region, including global terrorism and the refugee crises within the EU. Outside of the Middle East, other areas with frozen conflicts, de facto states,
and unstable peace are creating instability, in a world politically and militarily divided.
In essence, the globalized world has become both more and less peaceful. On the one hand, there is a strong trend of cooperation between states, international organizations and civil society groups on various
global problems that defy purely state-centric responses. On the other hand, push-back from states on the grounds of state sovereignty and geo-politics has also been significant. Whether in post-war Central
America or Western Balkans, political solutions to armed conflicts developed a tendency to mutate to terrorism, corruption and organized crime such as trafficking in humans, drugs and weapons.
The purpose of this conference is to make sense of these seemingly disparate and contradictory trends.
How do we explain and study the global decline in armed conflicts and the increase of crime against the backdrop of a globalized world? Is the 21st century shaping up to be more or less peaceful than the century
before? What has led to an increase in global crime? What is global security? What are the effects of “frozen conflicts” on global security? What is a global security order? Is there one? How does the global economy affect levels of global crime? How should we think about those consequences of globalization that are “lawful but awful”?
The conference seeks to explore these questions in terms of their significance for Global Security Studies. Explaining how the experiences from developing countries confirm, conform and challenge traditional understandings of Global Security Studies is one of the overarching goals of the conference.
JUNE 24TH, FRIDAY, 2016
9:00-10:00 AM Registration, Student Hall
10:00– 11:00 AM Welcoming Remarks and Keynote Address, General Conference Hall
10:00AM Prof. Anna Ohanyan, Chair, Department of Political Science and International
Studies, Stonehill College, USA
10:10AM Minister Levon Mkrtchyan, Ministry of Education and Science, Republic of
Armenia
10:20AM Keynote Address by H.E. Mr. Piotr Antoni Świtalski, Ambassador, Head of
Delegation of the European Union to Armenia
10:40AM Prof. Peter Ubertaccio, Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Studies and Director
of Martin Institute for Law and Society, Stonehill College, USA
10:50AM Prof. Suren Ohanyan, President, Eurasia International University, Armenia
10:55AM Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan, Chief Executive Office, Eurasia Partnership Foundation
Armenia
11:00-11:30 AM Coffee and Media Break, General Conference Hall
11:30AM-1:00PM CONCURRENT SESSIONS 1 AND 2
Concurrent Session 1: Unresolved Conflicts and Global Security, Tempus Conference Hall
Session Chair: Richard Giragosian, Regional Studies Center
Regulation of the “Frozen Conflicts” in the South Caucasus: Ways and Perspectives
Ani Hovasapyan, Moscow State Linguistic University, Russia
De-Facto States in the CIS: Frozen Conflicts or Fragile Peace
Grigor Grigoryan, Yerevan State University, Armenia
The Input-Output Legitimacy Dilemma for a Peacebuilding Organization in a “Frozen” conflict
Evelina Kurki, Umea University, Sweden
Post-Conflict Stateness as a Global Security Threat: The Case of Non-Recognized States in
Post-Soviet Space
Violetta Petrosyan, Brusov State University, Armenia
Discussant: Richard Giragosian, Regional Studies Center, Armenia (Director@regional-studies.org)
Concurrent Session 2: Crossing Borders and Global Security, Viva Cell MTS Computer Room
Session Chair: Naira Sahakyan, Yerevan State University
Refugee Politics and Global Security
Alison Steferak, Stonehill College, USA
The Syrian Refugee Crisis and Armenia
Narek Grigoryan, Yerevan State University, Armenia
An Overview of Anti-Trafficking Action in Serbia
Katherine Wahrer, Stonehill College, USA
The Impact of Migration on Contemporary Armenian Economy
Olga Shakhsuvaryan, Armenian National Agrarian University, Armenia
Exporting Freshwater from Armenia: Exploring Opportunities Due to Climate Change
Lianna Hovhannisyan, Armenian National Agrarian University, Armenia
Discussant: Anna Ohanyan, Stonehill College, USA (aohanyan@stonehill.edu) and Benjamin Cole,
Simmons College (Benjamin.Cole@simmons.edu)
1:00-2:00PM Lunch, Student Hall
1:30-2:00 Screening of “My Journey” by Ms. Gonca Sonmez-Poole, Turkish-Armenian
Women’s Alliance (TAWA), Turkey and United States
2:00-3:30 PM CONCURRENT SESSIONS 3 AND 4
Concurrent Session 3: (In)Security Actors and Institutions, Tempus Conference Hall
Session Chair: Peter Ubertaccio, Stonehill College, USA
New Security Realities: Recalibrating the Role of Security Organizations in South Caucasus
Ani Grigoryan, National Academy of Sciences, Armenia
Geopolitical Rivalry of External Players in Nagorno-Karabakh
Lidiya Chikalova, OSCE Academy, Kyrgyzstan
Assessing the Impact of Armenian Peacebuilding Projects on Turkey-Armenia Relations
Helene Brehany, Stonehill College, USA
Examining the Presence and Potential of Restorative Justice in Serbia in Cases of