NATO Week at AUA: Bilateral Workshop on Cross Cultural Negotiations

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YEREVAN, Armenia – From November 13-14, 2014, the American University of Armenia (AUA) organized a 2-day bilateral training workshop on cross cultural negotiations sponsored by NATO within the framework of NATO Week.  The participants included representatives from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Justice, Police of the Republic of Armenia (RA), and other government agencies.  Also present were representatives from the Ministry of Defense of Georgia.

The training addressed the best ways for people to develop negotiation skills through practice and interactive exercises.  Conflict usually arises through mutual misunderstanding and may be emotionally charged, leading parties further from a solution.  This workshop provided methods and tools to participants on how to dissect such situations, engage in joint problem-solving, and achieve mutually beneficial agreements.

This was a first time joint effort between NATO and the RA Ministry of Defense and the beginning of continuous collaboration.

Arpie G. Balian holds a Master’s in Public Administration from American University, Washington D.C., and a doctorate from the University of Southern California in Planning, Policy and Development. Dr. Balian has taught performance-based budgeting, strategic planning, performance management, and program evaluation courses in the U.S. government as well as in several institutes and universities both in the U.S. and in Armenia. She is currently the Director of AUA Extension and a Senior Lecturer in the AUA Political Science and International Affairs program. In her current position, Dr. Balian directs several development efforts in education, including the training for the Turpanjian Rural Development Program, various components of the Professional Development Program with the RA Ministry of Defense, the Entrepreneurship Program in Yerevan and in rural Armenia, and a dozen other courses in different areas of expertise and skills training.

Stepan S. Khzrtian is Founding Partner at LegalLab Law Boutique, an international business law firm founded in 2012. He heads the Center for Excellence in Negotiation: Yerevan, an international center for negotiation training and research with sister offices in Kiev and Moscow, headquartered in Boston. Khzrtian is a member of the Law faculty at AUA and teaches Corporate Law and Negotiation to AUA graduate students. Khzrtian holds degrees from Yerevan State University (’08) and American University of Armenia (’10), and an LL.M degree from the University of Cambridge (’11), where he served on the Law Faculty Board representing over 200 graduate and PhD students.  He is a negotiation specialist trained at the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation (’07, ’14).

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.

Arpie Balian, Director of University Extension, addresses the participants at NATO Week.

The participants included representatives from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Justice, Police of the Republic of Armenia (RA), and other government agencies.  Also present were representatives from the Ministry of Defense of Georgia.

 

NATO Week at AUA.

NATO Week at AUA.