US Ambassador to Armenia Meets with President Der Kiureghian; Discusses US Foreign Policy with PSIA Students
2 min readYEREVAN, Armenia – United States Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr. paid a visit to the American University of Armenia (AUA) on January 21. His Excellency met with AUA President Armen Der Kiureghian, AUA Vice President Ashot Ghazaryan, and Provost Randall Rhodes. He also gave a lecture on the current goals of US foreign policy in the region and globally to AUA students in the Political Science and International Affairs (PSIA) program.
Accompanying Ambassador Mills were Jacqueline Deley, Public Affairs Officer, Diana Sitt, Cultural Affairs Officer, and Hasmik Mikayelyan, Cultural/Education Specialist.
During his discussion with President Der Kiureghian, the Ambassador was briefed on the USAID/ASHA-Funded Innovation and Technology Incubation Center and Student Services/Student Excellence Center construction projects that are currently underway. Der Kiureghian also discussed various Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and agreements between AUA and several US universities. He also extended an early invitation to Ambassador Mills to AUA’s upcoming 25th anniversary celebration events.
Following a tour of the USAID/ASHA-Funded renovation projects, Ambassador Mills gave a lecture to AUA PSIA students, which was moderated by Professor Simon Clarke, the program chair. His Excellency highlighted US motivations and global priorities behind his country’s foreign policy towards Europe. According to the Ambassador, since “Armenia is geopolitically and culturally connected to Europe,” one of the US priorities of a Europe that is “whole, free, and at peace,” a Europe that is free of “artificial divisions,” as had been the case during the Cold War, extends to Armenia as well. He added that Armenia’s recent entry into the Eurasian Union should not preclude strong US-Armenian ties.
The Ambassador also addressed some of the complexities and dangers of current developments in the Middle East, including the destabilization of Syria and parts of Africa due to the rise of Islamic extremism, and the resulting global refugee crisis. He expressed his gratitude for Armenia’s role in assisting Syrian refugees, as well as its peacekeeping efforts in Lebanon, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, as part of NATO’s and the United Nation’s efforts in these countries.
Ambassador Mills discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the worsening situation along the Armenian-Azeri line of contact, and the US role in the Minsk group. He talked about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Iran-Saudi Arabia confrontation, the Syrian crisis, and the current Turkish-Russian stand-off. The Ambassador fielded questions from AUA’s PSIA students, praising their “unique” perspective, stemming from an AUA education and as representatives of a younger generation that grew up in an independent Armenia.
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 US-style education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.
