Civilitas Foundation founder Vartan Oskanian and Director Salpi Ghazarian participated in the Bled Strategic Forum, in Bled, Slovenia, August 30-31. Ministers, policy makers, members of government, experts and representatives of civil societies from Europe, the U.S. and Asia participated in the forum entitled “The Politics of Economic Crisis: Redefining Economic and Geopolitical Landscapes in Europe and Eurasia.”Mr. Oskanian participated in the panel named “Stability through Regional Frameworks: Eastern Europe and the Caspian Region.” He spoke about the role of European and regional organizations in maintaining peace and stability in the Caucasus. In post-Soviet reality these organizations have played a positive role, but in the light of recent tensions between Russia and the West, they can also be a destabilizing factor. Thus both Russia and the West should accept the idea of complementarity, that was Armenia’s main foreign policy principle in the previous 10 years, and to try to complement each other’s presence in the region, instead of confronting each other.
Mrs. Ghazarian participated in the panel named “Before and After the Financial Crisis: The Question of Values.” Mrs. Ghazarian spoke about the important role of universal values and principles in any political and economic development. One of the lessons learned from the financial crisis was that the lack of principles and moral values, such as the expectation that there would necessarily be self-regulation and the predominance of wealth accumulation as a goal, rather than a means to equitable, fair, decent life for all, is what led to the crisis. And an acknowledgement that prosperity is a way of reaching a dignified and peaceful world is what is needed at the base of the financial and institutional reforms that now must necessarily take place.