Author: Chalian Meline

WASHINGTON’S OVER-STRETCHED FOREIGN POLICY ESTABLISHMENT
Gideon Rachman

FT
May 28, 2009 2:14pm

Visit the vast bureaucracies of the Pentagon or the State Department
and "under-staffed" is not the first word that springs to mind. But –
in fact – as the Obama administration grapples with the world, it is
short of key people in vital areas.

Take North Korea: the US’s special envoy for North Korea is Stephen
Bosworth, but he is only a part-timer. He divides his time between
the State Department and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
in Boston, where he is the dean. The lead State Department official
should be Kurt Campbell, Obama’s nominee for Assistant Secretary
of State for Asia – but almost six months into the administration,
he has yet to be confirmed by the Senate.

The whole confirmation business in unbelievably laborious and
time-consuming. When Obama visited Nato in April, neither his Nato
ambassador – Ivo Daalder – nor his Assistant Secretary for Europe,
Phil Gordon, had been confirmed so neither was able to travel with him.

Gordon’s six-month odyssey began last December when he was nominated
and ended a few days ago, when he was finally confirmed by the
Senate. His colleague Daniel Benjamin, who will be the State
Department’s counter-terrorism chief, has also only just been
confirmed.

The problem seems to be a mixture of crazed form-filling and domestic

politics. If you want to get security clearance for a top job at
the State Department, you have to list every foreign trip you have
taken for the last decade and every person you met on that trip. I am
astonished that anybody can meet a requirement like that – I couldn’t
tell you who I met last month. (You also have to list every investment
you have, including pension funds, in case you use your position to
trigger small wars that will benefit your investment portfolio.)

Then, if you are a former academic, you are likely to have left
a paper trail that could enrage domestic lobbies. Daalder had
written controversial things about turning Nato into a global
organisation. Benjamin had written a book on terrorism (a good idea
for a man taking his job, one might have thought). Gordon’s nomination
was held up for months because Armenian-American lobby groups were
unhappy with his writings on the Armenian genocide and managed to
mobilise some Senatorial opposition.

Gradually, all these appointments are slotting into place – so you
might think that Team Obama was finally ready to engage with the
world. But that could be over-optimistic. All these new appointees
will take a couple of months to settle in – and they also have to
appoint their own teams.

VICE SPEAKER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AREVIK PETROSYAN MEETS WITH THE GRADUATES OF WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SCHOOL

National Assembly of RA
May 27 2009
Armenia

On May 26 Vice Speaker of the National Assembly Mrs. Arevik Petrosyan
met with a group of graduate women of the stream Higher Political
Courses of Women’s Leadership School, which was founded by Women’s
Asscociation with university education. They are members of a number
of Armenian associations, NGOs and parties.

NA Vice Speaker Mrs. Arevik Petrosyan congratulated the graduates
on the occasion of completion of education and conveyed the
congratulations and warm wishes of the Speaker of the National Assembly
Mr. Hovik Abrahamyan.

Addressing the graduates he highlighted every step being undertaken
for the formation civil society, considering favourable in that respect
the role of the Women’s Leadership School, which has been functioning
for nine years. He expressed confidence that participating in the
courses they aimed at obtaining necessary knowledge, experience,
skills for literate and effective participation in political processes.

Mrs. Petrosyan underlined that within the framework of the courses
they have opportunity to establish contacts with each other, also
promoting with it the cooperation of different public-political
formats, mutual understanding, tolerance, which are one of the
necessary elements of ensuring political high culture. Touching upon
the problem of gender equality, the NA Vice Speaker noted that she
shares the European approaches on gender equality, according to which
this equality is an important index and precondition of full honouring
of human rights, democracy, poverty reduction and provision of social
justice and progress of legal state. Mrs. Petrosyan noted that in
the parliament enough attention is paid to the problems of gender
equality: it is designed to discuss The Concept of Gender Equality
and RA draft law on Provision of Women’s men’s equal rights and equal
opportunities. Mrs. Petrosyan considered expedient the continuity of
the meetings and cooperation over different issues.

Mrs. Petrosyan answered the graduates’ questions, at the request of
the founder of the Women’s Leadership School Mrs. Jemma Hasratyan, she
handed the graduate certificates, expressing hope that the knowledge
received while educating will be used for the sake of Motherland.

ARMENIANS IN EUROPE WILL FORM AN OPINION ON EU POLICIES AND TO USE THEIR VOTE KNOWINGLY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
27.05.2009 20:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian organization AGBU Europe has launched
a pre-electoral campaign asking candidates in the European elections
for their position on key issues. In June 2009, many of the one
million Armenians in Europe will have a chance to vote in the European
elections. Their vote could affect the future of Armenia or that of
the Diaspora: the European Union makes important decisions for all
Europeans, including Armenians around Europe. The campaign consists
in asking candidates in every EU country 7 questions on relevant EU
policies and in publishing their answers. This will provide Europeans,
Armenians included, with information to help them choose between
candidates on election day. Crucially, it will raise awareness
among candidates, and remind them that their electors care about
these issues.

Relevant EU policies include those that concern Armenia’s future
European integration and the newly launched Eastern Partnership,
policies on culture, language and freedom and justice; peace-making
in the South Caucasus and the future of Nagorno-Karabakh; and Turkey’s
accession prospects and the recognition of the Armenian genocide.

With this campaign, the organization hopes to encourage Armenians
in Europe to form an opinion on EU policies and to use their vote
knowingly. The campaign also intends to generate debate and raise
awareness among future members of the European Parliament about these
important questions, AGBU Europe reported to PanARMENIAN.Net.

27.05.2009 20:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian organization AGBU Europe has launched
a pre-electoral campaign asking candidates in the European elections
for their position on key issues. In June 2009, many of the one
million Armenians in Europe will have a chance to vote in the European
elections. Their vote could affect the future of Armenia or that of
the Diaspora: the European Union makes important decisions for all
Europeans, including Armenians around Europe. The campaign consists
in asking candidates in every EU country 7 questions on relevant EU
policies and in publishing their answers. This will provide Europeans,
Armenians included, with information to help them choose between
candidates on election day. Crucially, it will raise awareness
among candidates, and remind them that their electors care about
these issues.

Relevant EU policies include those that concern Armenia’s future
European integration and the newly launched Eastern Partnership,
policies on culture, language and freedom and justice; peace-making
in the South Caucasus and the future of Nagorno-Karabakh; and Turkey’s
accession prospects and the recognition of the Armenian genocide.

With this campaign, the organization hopes to encourage Armenians
in Europe to form an opinion on EU policies and to use their vote
knowingly. The campaign also intends to generate debate and raise
awareness among future members of the European Parliament about these
important questions, AGBU Europe reported to PanARMENIAN.Net.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES ALL ARMENIANS ON THE FIRST REPUBLIC DAY

ArmInfo
2009-05-27 17:20:00

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan congratulates all his compatriots
on the First Republic Day.

In his felicitation the president says that the victories in May became
one of the brightest examples of national unification, and expressed
confidence that they will inspire more generations. "We see future
Armenia as a rich and defended country of political freedoms and
economic take-offs, being at international level in the science and
education, living in a peaceful and stable region", he says. He calls
on everybody to pay a tribute to the memory of heroes of Sardarapat,
Bash-Aparan and Gharakilisa. "May 28 is the evidence of the fact that
Armenian people are able to set themselves great tasks and carry them
out with the whole nation",- Sargsyan says. He wishes all Armenians
a peaceful sky, happiness, success and new achievements in the name
of Armenian people.

CBA’S VICE-CHAIRMAN: 7-8% ANNUAL ECONOMIC DECLINE EXPECTED IN ARMENIA

/ARKA/
May 26, 2009
YEREVAN

A 7-8% economic compression is expected to be recorded in Armenia
in annual terms, Vice-Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA)
Vache Gabrielyan said.

Estimates suggest that the country will most probably manage to
maintain the current level of the economy in the next two-three
years and no deeper decline is expected, he said at the international
economic conference on Armenia and its countermeasures against total
catastrophe

Gabrielyan pointed out that the large-scale measures implemented by
the Armenian Government envisage greater growth rates in the second
half of the year as compared with the first six months.

In this respect, the Central Bank is periodically reviewing its
monetary and credit policy as required by economic developments.

"We state that the second half of this year will be much more
essential, as considerable funds are to be directed to the economy,"
he said.

Armenian Gross Domestic Product reduced by 9.7% down to 638.9bln Drams
($1,894.4mln) in January-April 2009 as compared with the same period
of last year. The GDP produced in April is by 5.4% lower than the
level of the previous month.

A 9.3% economic growth was recorded in Armenia in January-April 2008.

According to the country’s state budget, GDP growth is expected at 9.2%
in 2009.

DAVUTOGLU HEADS TO BAKU WITH MAMMADYAROV ABOARD HIS PLANE

Today’s Zaman
May 25 2009
Turkey

Only 11 days after accompanying the prime minister on an official
visit to Baku, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was scheduled yesterday
to depart from Damascus for Baku with his Azerbaijani counterpart on
board his private plane.

Davutoglu and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov were both
in Damascus over the weekend to participate in the 36th session of
the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC).

Davutoglu traveled by private plane to Damascus on Saturday morning
accompanied by a delegation of diplomats from his ministry, the
Anatolia news agency reported. Later on Saturday, Davutoglu announced
that he would proceed to Baku with Mammadyarov, Anatolia reported,
noting that the two would travel to Baku on board the private plane
which brought the Turkish minister and Turkish delegation to Damascus.

Davutoglu will discuss efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia and energy issues, Anatolia
said. Azerbaijan has protested Turkish-Armenian reconciliation,
saying it would have negative implications for the region if the
reconciliation takes place without progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Baku that there
would be no normal relations with Armenia unless Armenia withdraws
from Nagorno-Karabakh.

In Damascus, Mammadyarov said no progress has been achieved in
relations with Armenia. "With the current administration in Armenia,
we have not achieved anything. As a person leading the negotiations,
I cannot say that we have made even some progress in current issues,"
Mammadyarov was quoted as saying on Saturday.

While in Damascus on Saturday, Davutoglu addressed participants of
the meeting of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers and underlined
that the Islamic world is nowadays in more need of mutual dialogue,
communication and stability.

"It is a reality that a geo-strategic, geo-political and geo-economic
culture is emerging in the Islamic world. We need to draw a new vision
in line with the expectations of our times, traditions and values,"
Davutoglu was quoted as saying by Anatolia.

In his speech Davutoglu urged Israel to take serious steps towards
resolution of the Palestinian issue on the basis of a two-state
solution, while also calling on the OIC member-states to lend further
support to Pakistan.

During bilateral talks between Davutoglu and Iran’s Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki held on the sidelines of the Damascus meeting,
issues concerning Afghanistan and Pakistan, commercial relations,
political developments in Iraq and the election process in Iran were on
the agenda, Anatolia reported. Davutoglu also had bilateral talks with
Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, with whom he discussed the
election process in Iraq in addition to the issue of sharing of water
from the Euphrates River. "We will give as much water as possible to
our Iraqi and Syrian friends," Davutoglu said after talks with Zebari,
noting that the amount of precipitation this year was satisfactory.

During their bilateral meeting Davutoglu told Palestinian Foreign
Minister Riyad al-Maliki that peace efforts in the Middle East would
not be effective without removing the ongoing division among the
Palestinian groups.

ARMENIAN-BELGIAN BUSINESS FORUM LAUNCHED IN YEREVAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
25.05.2009 17:23 GMT+04:00

Armenian-Belgian collaboration is on its way to development, Armenian
Development Agency (ADA) Director General Robert Harutyunyan told a
news conference. "This has been the first meeting we’ve organized
jointly with Vallonia, Belgium. The main goal of the meeting is
establishment of collaboration with Armenian and Belgian business
circles to enable creation of joint enterprise and provision of
product turnover," he said.

According to Harutyunyan, the first Armenian-Belgian business forum
was held last year. "Currently our task is to strengthen and develop
our collaboration." According to Director General the collaboration
will be established within UNIDO assistance framework.

According to Harutyunyan, current collaboration level has been
unsatisfactory so far, so it needs to be further developed. "At present
there are no Belgian enterprises in Armenia, several companies with
Belgian capital has been operating so far." In this connection he added
that in 2008 direct investments in Armenia comprised $3,6 million,
exceeding 2007 results by 2,5%, product turnover comprised $18,
65 million within the same period.

"Export and import between the two countries is presented in similar
figures, but there’s a chance to increase them. Business forums like
this one will provide us with the possibility."

Harutyunayn noted that mainly jewelry has been exported from
Armenia. Foodstuff is being imported from Belgium. Besides, there are
certain achievements in the sphere of rural production, pharmaceutical
and chemical spheres, as well as information technologies.

Belgian delegation including 11 companies’ representatives is headed
by General Director of Valloni Belgian state’s Agency for external
trade and investments, Phillip Syunen. Armenia was represented by
ADA Director General, Robert Harutyunyan and Commercial Attache of
Belgian Embassy in Russia Ivan Korsak.

ARA ABRAHAMYAN: DIALOGUE WITH TURKEY MUST GO ON

ArmInfo
2009-05-25 16:48:00

ArmInfo. Dialogue with Turkey must go on, President of the Union
of Russian Armenians and Head of the World Armenian Congress Ara
Abrahamyan said at today’s press-conference.

A. Abrahamyan thinks the Armenian-Turkish dialogue must go on not
only at the level of presidents and foreign ministers. It should take
place in all the spheres, including culture and business. This will
much contribute to solution of the existing problems. A. Abrahamyan
said he negatively treats the circumstance that opening of the border
between Armenia and Turkey may be connected with the Armenian Genocide
or Nagorno Karabakh issues. ‘The Armenian Genocide cannot be a subject
of trade’, he emphasized. A. Abrahamyan recalled that he has twice
offered President Serzh Sargsyan, in written, to solve the issue of
recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the international court. ‘The
government of Armenia thinks we are not yet ready to make this step,
while we think this issue should be treated from a scientific point
of view, that will much simplify this process’, he said.

According to A. Abrahamyan, he was recently presented about 1700
documents in the USA related to the Armenian Genocide, including the
notes of ambassadors dated to 1915-23. A. Abrahamyan expressed his
discontent with the activity of the Armenian Diaspora and the Embassy
of Armenia in the USA which have not use these documents for a long
time. He expressed hope that the invaluable gift will find a place
in the IV volume of the book ‘Armenian Genocide. Responsibility and
Commitments of the World Community’.

Armenia joins uranium enrichment project

ANS
23.05.2009 18:21

Agreement has been reached during the Council of CIS prime ministers`
meeting in Astana.

Kazakhstan agreed Armenia’s participation in a uranium enrichment
project signed eariler between Russia and Kazakhstan. ArmInfo quotes
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan as saying. According to
Sarkisyan, the agreement was reached during the Council of CIS prime
ministers` meeting in Astana.

In 2006, Russia and Kazakhstan set up an international uranium
enrichment center in the Russian city of Angarsk. The center is
expected to work with full capacity by 2013.

Armenia expects to receive additional resources from World Bank

2009-05-23 14:24:00

ArmInfo. Armenia expects to receive additional financial resources from
the World Bank, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan told
journalists on board the plane when returning from the sitting of the
Council of CIS prime ministers held in Astana, Friday.

According to him, Armenia may receive the additional funds in case it
ensures active rates in implementation of the projects within the
frames of the $545 mln loan provided by WB.

"We are interested in implementation of these projects at more active
rates",- Tigran Sargsyan stressed. He added that Armenia will shortly
form a large investment package with the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
to build the North-South motor highway, rural roads, credit small and
medium business. "In general, due to resources from ADB, WB, and
Russian stabilization loan, a large package will be ensured which will
considerably dampen the negative impact of the crisis", – the prime
minister said.