The Michigan Daily, MI
Oct 22 2004

Conference seeks peace in former Soviet republics

Photo: Vitaly Naumkian, the director of the International Center for
Strategic and Political Studies in Russia, speaks at the panel
discussion “Evolving International Relations and the South Caucasus”
yesterday at the Alumni Center. (Alexander dziadosz/Daily)

By Margaret Havemann, Daily Staff Reporter

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia have seen their influence in the world increase due to
their strategic location north of the Middle East and their easy
access to trade routes on the Caspian Sea.

However, with this increase in responsibility has come an increase in
military conflicts, as all three of the former republics of the
Soviet Union are engaged in wars.

In order to re-examine the region’s problems and discuss what has
gone wrong in the region in the past decade, the University is
hosting the International Armenian Conference this weekend. The
conference on Armenian politics that began yesterday and will end
Sunday will bring together some 35 scholars, diplomats and
negotiators from more than 10 countries, including nations in Europe
and the Middle East.

`We want to see if the trust between this very diverse group of
people can be strengthened, so that progress can be made,’ Gerard
Libaridian, a professor of modern Armenian history at the University,
said during the conference’s opening yesterday.

For the first time in years, diplomats and scholars directly involved
in creating policies for conflict resolution in the region will come
together, he said.

`This is an event that I’m sure many Armenian academics have
considered organizing, but because of my personal connections, we
were able to make it happen here at the University of Michigan,’ said
Libaridian, who spent seven years as the senior advisor to Armenia’s
president.

After almost eight months of planning, Kevork Bardakjian, a
co-organizer of the conference and the director of the University’s
Academic Programs in Armenian Studies, said many discussions will
take place that anyone interested in Armenian or Middle East politics
will find fascinating.

Members of the Armenian Studies Program, one of the groups hosting
the conference, hope that it will facilitate a discussion among
powerful people who will reflect on and perhaps examine the mistakes
in policy decisions made in the 1990s that led to bloody conflicts
and unstable governments.

A civil wars is currently taking place in Georgia, while Armenia and
Azerbaijan have long been engaged in conflict. Additionally,
elections in Armenia have been deemed unfair by analysts.

LSA sophomore Alex Sarkesian considers himself 100 percent Armenian
although he was born in the United States, and he said on a recent
visit to the country `I saw the graves of the people who have died
fighting in the conflicts.’

`I am attending this conference because, not only is it very
important for students and the community to become better informed
about what is going on, but this is an exciting opportunity for
change.’

Participants in the panel discussions include Terhi Hakala, Finland’s
ambassador to Armenia; John Evans, the U.S. ambassador to Armenia;
and Prof. Hossein Seifzadeh of Tehran University in Iran.

The conference also offers the opportunity for students to meet
diplomats and scholars and talk with the people whom they have read
about in textbooks. `This will bring the politics of Armenia to
life,’ Libaridian said.

Following Libaridian’s speech was a panel discussion titled `Evolving
International Relations and the South Caucaus.’ The panel included
sociology Prof. Michael Kennedy from the University of Michigan,
Vitaly Naumkin, the director of the International Center for
Strategic and Political Studies in Russia and international relations
Prof. Hadi Semati from Tehran University.

Today’s events include a panel discussion titled `The World as Seen
by the South Caucasus,’ from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and one titled
`The South Caucasus As Seen by the Regional Powers,’ from 2 to 3:30
p.m. All sessions are free, open to the public and take place at the
Alumni Center, near the Michigan League.