Armenia Should Have Its Intellectual Contribution in the EEU

• 02.28.2015, 20:04
•  EEU,  World

Eurasian integration at this stage cannot take place without taking into account economic, political, humanitarian and other aspects, including security issues. This was declared by the head of the NGO "Integration and Development" Aram Safaryan during the meeting of the Eurasian expert club.

On February 27 in "Noravank" Foundation the meeting of the Eurasian expert club took place.  Yerevan State University and Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University students were invited to participate in the event. Aram Safaryan announced about the creation of a new magazine on Eurasian Studies for students and undergraduates of the EEU countries. Articles of some of the students present in the event will be published in the first issue of the magazine.

In the event reports were made by the members of the Eurasian expert club: head of Research and Educational Foundation "Noravank" Gagik Harutyunyan; doctor of economics, professor Ashot Tavadyan; former Armenian Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan and expert at "Noravank", PhD in Sociology Samvel Manukyan.

Topics such as information security, economic challenges and ways to overcome them, military security, as well as Armenia’s justified decision to join EEU were on the agenda.

Information warfare and manipulation of information occurs through the content of the information disseminated- such concepts as "Nation building" and various memes are formed to deform the civilized code of nations and cut them off from their history, making it easy to manipulate, said Gagik Harutyunyan. As the main tool to counter this process Mr. Harutyunyan stressed the need for highly intelligent society. According to him, today we do not create, but manipulate information and are being subjected to its influence. "We will obtain information sovereignty only when we raise our intellectual level," - said Harutyunyan. According to him, for the EEU today it is especially important to have information sovereignty and the formation of a common information space.

In his speech Doctor of economics, Ashot Tavadyan referred to the issues of anti-crisis measures in the EEU and stressed the main anti-crisis measures taken by Russia, which can be useful for Armenia - including the policy aimed at increasing exports, import substitution, the development of military industry, optimizing budget expenditures, active social policy, etc. Tavadyan also stressed that anti-corruption policy of Armenia is better than in other countries of EEU, and it should "continue reducing the level of corruption, rather than allow "mutual infection".

Former Armenian Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan discussed with students issues concerning military security of Eurasian Union. "Any economic zone should be protected,"- said Harutyunyan, explaining the importance of military security for the economic union. He stressed the importance of CSTO in EEC from the point of view of guaranteeing the security of each of the participant state and the area as a whole. For Armenia, this is of particular importance, taking into account the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the ongoing escalation of tension on the borders. Harutyunyan touched upon the importance of the Russian base in Gyumri and the security system of CSTO, noting that due to the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the air defense system of Armenia is one of the best systems in the region. Military security provides the necessary conditions for economic development and economic integration.

PhD in sociology Samvel Manukyan through the theory of world-system analysis called Armenia's decision to join the Eurasian Economic Union to be justified and referred to those aspects which may be important for the effectiveness of the process. Manukyan said that Armenia should strive for the development of science and scientific knowledge. We must become a developed scientific country that can bring its contribution to the development of the whole Eurasian economic area. "If we do not work in a clever way, we will not achieve any results," - concluded Manukyan.

Experts stressed that Armenia has unrealized resources, and its accession to the EEU opens many opportunities for the economic growth. During the event the main tasks of Armenia were indicated: to increase export, strengthen the information security, raise the intellectual level of the society, strengthen military security, expand the role of the intellectual resources of Armenia in the EEU.