The purpose of the meeting with First Deputy Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan was to discuss preparatory works for the annual conference of the International Forum for the Challenges of Peace Operations, which will take place on October 5-6. Davit Tonoyan stressed the importance of holding the annual conference of the Forum and that Armenia is eager to deepen their cooperation. Director Annika Hilding Norberg, as well as delegation members Yibeka Johnson and Andrea Rabus, expressed their satisfaction with the high level of cooperation with the ARM Ministry of Defense. The discussions in INSS were attended by INSS Head and advisor to the ARM Defense Minister, Major-General Hayk Kotanjyan, Executive Director of the Political Science Association (PSAA) Benjamin Poghosyan, Head of the MFA NATO’s Division Gagik Hovhannisyan, and Head of the Institute’s Analytical Center of Strategic Games, Michael Avetisyan. Hayk Kotanjyan greeted the partners and attached importance to the collaboration between the INSS and the Forum, which was launched in the spring of 2014. Resulting from this collaboration, in July 1-2, 2014, an International Strategic Policy Forum on “The integration of national and regional peacekeeping capacities into the global system of peace operations based on the principles and standards of the UN” was held in Yerevan, attended by representatives of the United States and 12 different countries. Consequently, the Republic of Armenia was represented by the ARM MoD INSS in the annual conference of the Challenges Forum held in Beijing on 14-16 October 2014, where they gained membership status, becoming a partner country. The aforementioned forum has 20 member states, including 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council. During the professional discussion, the parties touched upon several conference-related and organizational issues. The conference is a general meeting for partners of the International Forum for the Challenges of Peace Operations, which involves the participation of UN representatives and the world’s leading experts in the field of peacekeeping. The parties emphasized on INSS’ significant experience in the organization of international forums. Throughout the meeting, the guests were also presented with the plan to establish the National Defense University in 2015, implemented by the Academic Council of the US National Defense University.