On 14 May the delegation of the Munich University of Federal Armed Forces made a study visit to the National Defence Research University, MOD, RA.

Lieutenant General Hayk Kotanjian, Founding Head, NDRU, Doctor of Political Science, Professor, introduced the guests the activities of the University at the Conference Hall, briefed in detail on the research (Institute for National Strategic Studies – INSS) and the educational (National Institute for Strategic Defence Security Education – NISDSE) components of the NDRU. As Professor Kotanjian stated, the educational process in the University evolved via the leading Western research universities’ and institutes’ model, as well as with the account of the Russian think tanks’ practice, i.e., transferring the products of the academic-applied research as knowledge to the auditorium.

At the meeting Colonel Suren Davtyan, Head, NISDSE–Deputy Head in Education, NDRU, briefed on the educational activity of the University. Benyamin Poghosyan, Head, INSS–Deputy Head, NDRU, PhD in History, described the guests the security dynamics in the South Caucasus and neighbouring region. Vahram Petrosyan, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Regional Strategic Analysis, INSS, NDRU, PhD in History, provided with the analysis of the Kurdish factor in the region. The research conducted in the IT and cyberspace security by the INSS Centre for National Security Policy and Information-Communication Technologies was introduced by Arman Grigorian, Head of the centre, PhD in Engineering. He in particular noted the NDRU-elaborated projects of the National Cyber security Strategy and that of adapting and implementing in Armenia the Chief Information Officer (CIO) system.

With the reports completed, the guests addressed questions to the NDRU specialists about the RA’s balanced foreign policy, the prospectives of the Karabakh conflict regulation, relations between the RA and Iran, Armenia’s integration possibilities into China’s “One Belt-One Road” initiative, as well as the latest domestic political developments. The guests emphasized the role that the NDRU, MOD, RA plays as a platform for strategic dialogue in academic-expert format between Armenia’s ally and partner states in terms of the evolving conflict between the RF and the West.  

At the end of the meeting members of the Munich University emphasized their eagerness to develop cooperation between the two universities.