September 25, 2003

Raffi Hovannisian, International Figures Attend New York Assembly

New York—Raffi K. Hovannisian, Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs, was among several world leaders to be invited by the US Foreign Policy Association (FPA) to attend and address its World Leadership Forum held here on September 24 and 25.

Along with the other prominent decisionmakers in government, diplomacy, business and journalism, Hovannisian focused on key domestic and international challenges in the contemporary world.

In the margins of the conference, Raffi Hovannisian met separately with President Vaira Vike-Freiberga of Latvia; President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal; Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana; Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner; Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio Vallelersundi; and Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul also addressed the conclave.

In addition, Hovannisian presented Armenian perspectives in meetings with William Donaldson, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission who had served previously as US undersecretary of state to Henry Kissinger; with Russell Lewis, president of The New York Times; and with Peter Thompson, president of PepsiCo Beverages International.

In his capacity as founding director of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS), Raffi Hovannisian conferred with FPA president Noel Lateef and other visiting officials from European, Asian, and African foreign policy research organizations regarding the creation of a Global Affiliation of Institutes of International Affairs.

Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Hovannisian, and supported by the Lincy Foundation and a global network of contributors, ACNIS serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world. It also aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking and a wider understanding of the new global environment. In 2003, the Center focuses primarily on public outreach, civic education, and applied research on critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the nation.

For further information on the Center and its activities, call (37410) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax (37410) 52-48-46; e-mail root@acnis.am or info@acnis.am