The launching of the Post-Graduate School in the “Political Institutes and Processes” specialization took place at Drastamat Kanayan Institute for National Strategic Studies, MOD, Republic of Armenia on February 15. Their Excellencies Seyran Ohanyan, Minister of Defense; Armen Ashotyan, Minister of Education and Science; Arman Kirakosyan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as Yuri Shukurian, Deputy Head of National Academy of Sciences; Aram Simonyan, Rector of Yerevan State University; Samvel Harutyunyan, Chairman of the State Committee of Science, and the Members of the INSS Academic Committee participated in the launching ceremony.

Major General Hayk Kotanjian, Advisor on Defense Security Policy to the Minister of Defense, Doctor of Political Sciences welcomed the participants of the ceremony and presented to the honorable guests the academic portfolio and perspectives of the Post-Graduate School. He mentioned that the project aimed at training INSS staff members and leading specialists cooperating with the Institute in the defense and security oriented political science, creating an environment which would contribute to the development of their practical research skills. Dr. Kotanjian also noted that the project would be implemented through developing and approving individual curricula for post-graduate students, combining research and training within the framework of the Institute’s current projects with the American “On-the-Job-Training” model, i. e. not only by acquiring knowledge, but also developing appropriate skills to use it, as well as through academic cooperation with leading partner institutions. Then the Honorable Armenian Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan took the floor. He highly evaluated the role of the INSS in the context of defense education reforms and underlined the importance of the interagency cooperation oriented towards the exchange and development of advanced academic and educational experience. The Minister believed the launching of the Post-Graduate School to be a significant and key event. He paid a special attention to the fact that the establishment of the Post-Graduate and School for National Security Executive Education in the context of gradual transforming of the Institute into the National Defense University would be the major component of defense education reforms. Also it is a significant step forward for the Institute which carries out its key obligations in a targeted way. Armen Ashotyan, the Honorable Armenian Minister of Education and Science, welcomed in his speech the fact that both the Bologna and “On-the-Job-Training”, i. e. training by researching, models would be successfully synthesized in the project. This would enable researchers to manifest their knowledge and enrich it through an academic and research work. The Honorable Minister of Education and Science offered his support in the INSS gradual transformation into the National Defense University. He added that suchlike academic institutions of National Defense University type were leaders among the advanced training centers in developed countries. This is the policy the Ministry of Defense and its INSS have adopted. Nikolay Hovhannisyan, Corresponding Member of National Academy of Sciences, former Fulbright Scholar mentioned in his speech that two doctoral theses, recently defended at the INSS, should be considered in a strategic caliber as they dealt with political issues of national security. Dr. Hovhannisyan evaluated the opening of the Post-Graduate School in the INSS as a significant step for developing defense and security oriented political science environment in independent Armenia. He highlighted the intellectualization of the Senior Executives of Armenian Armed Forces through the INSS within the process of defense education reforms led by the Honorable Mr. Seyran Ohanyan. At the end of the ceremony, the distinguished participants were hopeful that the newly established Interagency Post-Graduate School would provide the quality training of specialists in the sphere of political and security studies for Armenia.