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23 Apr 01 - Conference: Crisis-Management Strategies for Georgia

IISS Activities in the Caucasus Programme

On 23-24 April 2001, the IISS Russia and Eurasia Programme held a conference on 'Crisis-Management Strategies for Georgia' in Tbilisi. Staged in cooperation with the Paris-based Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques and the Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD), the conference was opened by the Georgian Deputy Defence Minister, Gela Bezhuashvili. Participants included members of the Foreign and Defence Ministries of Britain, France and Georgia, as well as members of the Georgian Parliament, Chancellery, Security Council, Ministry of Economy and other departments. Speakers included representatives of a wide range of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as, from Britain, Roy Allison of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and Jonathan Cohen from Conciliation Resources; Jean Radvanyi from the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations and Thornike Gordadze from the Institute of Political Studies, both in France; Anatol Lieven from the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Vadim Kalinichev from Russia's 'Partner' Foundation; Igor Muradyan from the Armenian Institute of Iranian Studies; and Ghia Nodia from Georgia's CIPDD. The conference was also attended by representatives of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the EU and other international bodies.   The conference gave British and French policy-makers the opportunity to discuss European perspectives on crisis-management policies with their Georgian counterparts, who presented their views on the development of crisis-management capabilities within government institutions, as well as their plan for military reform. Sessions were held on the economic and political aspects of crisis-prevention policies; the role of government institutions in crisis-management policy-making; strategies for effective information policies; and the development of operational capabilities for dealing with crises. Georgian and international experts also exchanged views on the sources of potential crises in Georgia.   In addition, a round-table meeting focused on the implications of Russia's closure of its Akhalkalaki base for the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia, which is causing concern among international organisations engaged in Georgia. Since September 1999, both sides have been negotiating the timing and procedure for Russia's withdrawal from its two remaining bases in Georgia at Akhalkalaki and Batumi. Both the Georgian government and the international community recognise the need for a strategy to adapt Akhalkalaki society, which is predominantly Armenian, with the population largely dependent on the base for employment. This session was attended by, among others, Georgi Baramidze, Chairman of the Defence Committee of the Georgian Parliament and Malkhaz Khozhtaria, Deputy Presidential Representative for the Samtskhe-Javakheti region. Representatives from Samtskhe-Javakheti, including regional authorities and local NGOs, played an active role in the conference overall.       Agenda Conference Report April 23, 2001 (Monday)   9:00-9:15 Opening Remarks Terence Taylor - Assistant Director IISS Georges le Guelte - Director of Research , IRIS 9:15-9:45 Opening Address: Gela Bezhuashvili, Deputy Minister of Defence of Georgia 10:00-12:30 Session 1 Potential Sources of Crisis in Georgia and in the region: economic, social and military dimensions Chairman: Gela Bezhuashvili, Deputy Defence Minister of Georgia Speakers Giga Burduli,Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ghia Nodia, The Caucasian Institute for Peace Democracy and Development (Georgia) Anatol Lieven, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Roy Allison, The Royal Institute of International Affairs Shalva Kupatadze, Head of Military Intelligence Department Jonathan Cohen, Conciliation Resources (UK) Jean Radvanyi, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations INALCO (France) 13:30-15:30 Session 2 The role of different State Institutions and Government Departments in addressing crisis: the civil-military interface, principles of co-ordination, and decision-making procedures Chairman: Arnaud Dubien, IRIS Speakers Colonel Bertrand Ract-Madoux, General Staff (France) Paata Giorgidze, Security Council Staff 16:30-18:30 Session 3 Developing Operational Capabilities for Crisis Management in the Armed Forces Chairman: Terence Taylor, Assistant Director IISS Speakers Lt-Col Stephen Hughes, Directorate of Joint Warfare UK MOD Kakha Katsitadze, Head of Department of Strategic Planning Colonel Bertrand Ract-Madoux, General Staff (France)   April 24, 2001 (Tuesday)   9:00-10:30 Session 4 Public Information Strategies for Effective Crisis Management Chairman: Ghia Nodia, Director CIPDD Speakers Genéral Gérard Frère Deputy Director Directorate for Strategic Affairs French Ministry of Defence Merian Kiknadze, Head of Public Relations Department, Georgian Ministry of Defence Terence Taylor, Assistant Director IISS Jacques Massey, Journalist Lecturer at Marne-la-Vallée University 11:00-13:30 Session 5 Addressing the socio-economic problems of military downsizing and base closure Chairman: Georges le Guelte, Director of Research IRIS Speakers Maya Chibriashvili, Head of Planning Department Georgian Ministry of Defence Colonel Bertrand Ract-Madoux, General Staff (France) Phillip McCrea Directorate of Economic Advice, UK MOD Vadim Kalinichev, President Foundation for Social Adaptation of Retiring Servicemen "Partner" (Russia) Georgi Muchaidze, Head of Disarmament and Arms Control Department Ministry of Foreign Affairs Georgy Manjgaladze, Acting Head of International Co-operation Department Georgian Ministry of Defence 13:30-16:30 Session 6 (Round table discussion) Implications of Akhalkalaki base closure for the Samtshe-Javakheti region: social, economic and security problems present and required policies to address them Chair: Oksana Antonenko, Programme Director (Russia and Eurasia) IISS Speakers Georgi Baramidze, Chairman of Defence Committee of the Georgian Parliament Malkhaz Khoshtaria, Deputy President's Authorised Representative to Samtskhe-Javakheti region (Akhaltsikhe) Givi Shugarov, Foreign Affairs Committee Georgian Parliament Gena Muradian, Deputy Minister of Economics Industry and Trade Ararat Essoyan, Centre for Promoting Reforms and Democratic Development Akhalkalaki Anatol Lieven, Senior Fellow Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Washington D.C. Albertine Smit, Independent Consultant Igor Muradyan, Armenian Institute for Iranian Studies Thornike Gordadze, Institute of Political Studies (IEP) Paris Oksana Antonenko, Programme Director (Russia and Eurasia) IISS London 17:00-18:00 Closing Remarks Terence Taylor, IISS Arnaud Dubien, IRIS Ghia Nodia, CIPDD Général Gérard Frère, French Ministry of Defense   Participants   Lt.Col Stephen Hughes, Directorate of Joint Warfare Pierre Razoux, Georgia Desk Officer DCEE Phillip McCrea, Directorate of Economic Advice Wing Commander Andrew Kerr, UK Defence Attaché in Tbilisi Christopher Langton, UK Defence Attaché in Moscow Général Gerard Frère, Deputy Director Directorate for Strategic Affairs Denis Faucounau, Vice-Director Directorate for Strategic Affairs Col Bertrand Ract-Madoux, General Staff Lt Col Francis Moncaubeig, Defence Attaché in Tbilisi Général (ret) Bruno Elie, Advisor to the Minister Amiral (ret) Michel Debray, International Security Advisory Board Arnaud Kalika, Analyst Ministry of Defence H.E. Deborah Barnes Jones, UK Ambassador to Georgia Ms Lali Meskhi, DFID H.E. Mireille Musso, French Ambassador to Georgia Valerie Le Galcher-Baron, Press and Information Councellor French Embassy Christian Bec, Research Analyst on CIS Centre for Analysis and Forecasts French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thomas Bertin, General Secretariat on National Defence Office of the Prime-Minister Guenter Beuchel, EU Mission in Georgia Oyuna Umuralieva, OSCE Office of High Commissioner on National Minorities Amb Jean-Michel Lacombe, Head of OSCE Mission in Georgia Anna Westholm, OSCE Mission in Georgia Giorgi Gogsadze UN Development Programme Kaarina Immonen UN Development Programme Vakhtang Shevardnadze, National Legal Officer United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Tevfic Yaprak, World Bank Representative in Georgia Terence Taylor, Assistant Director IISS Oksana Antonenko, Programme Director (Eurasia) IISS Yevgeniya Teslyuk, Research Assistant IISS Arnaud Dubien, Head of CIS Programme IRIS Georges le Guelte, Director of Research IRIS Anatol Lieven, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Roy Allison, Head of Eurasia Programme Royal Institute for International Affairs Jonathan Cohen, Conciliation Resources Jean Radvanyi, Institute of Foreign Languages and Civilizations (Paris) Thornike Gordadze, IEP Paris Jacques Massey, Military affairs letter "T.T.U" Lecturer at Marne-la-Vallée University Albertine Smit, Former UNV representative in Samtskhe-Javakheti Janna van der Velde, FEWER-Forum on Early Warning and Early Response Vadim Kalinichev, President Foundation for Social Adaptation of retiring Servicemen "Partner" (Russia) Kate Whyte, NICO project for Javakheti Region Madame Laurence Vielfaure, Médecins Sans Frontières Davin Bremner, International Alert Spyros Demetriou Philip Rembler, Embassy of the United States of America Onor Ozceri, 1st Secretary Embassy of Turkey H.E. Wolf Dietrich Vogel, Embassy of Germany H.E. Vladimir Victorovich Gudev, Embassy of the Russian Federation Commander Anatoli Buryak, Defence Attaché of the Russian Federation H.E. George Khosroev, Embassy of Armenia H.E. Gajan Gajiev, Embassy of Azerbaijan H.E. Micelangelo Pipan, Embassy of Italy H.E. Spyros Georgiles, Embassy of Greece Andrew Baines, British Petroluium Vakhtang Gvakharia, Zeneth Gamma Consulting Georgi Baramidze, Chairman Defense and Security Committee Irakli Gogava, Head of CIS Sub-Committee Committee on Foreign Affairs Gela Kvaratskhelia, Chairman Civic Integration Committee Givi Shugarov, Foreign Relations Committee Melik Raysian, MP from Akhalkalaki Enzel Mkoyan, MP from Ninotsminda Roman Kusiani, Committee on Self Government Michael Osadze, Committee of Defence and Security Gen Lt David Tevzadze, Minister Gela Bezhuashvili, Deputy Minister Georgi Giogobiani, Deputy head of General Staff Kakha Katsitadze, Head of Department of Strategic Planning Georgy Manjgaladze, Head of Department of Military Policy and Bilateral Relations Shalva Kupatadze, Head of Military Intelligence Department Murtaz Gugegiani, Head of Department Maya Chibriashvili, Head of Planning Department Paata Abramia, Department of International Co-operation Merian Kiknadze, Head of Public Relations Department Alexander Sandodze, Head of Crisis Management Department Dimitri Lezhava, Head of Presonnel Department Gena Mouradian, Deputy Minister Gogi Medzmariashvili, Head of Department Giga Burduli, Deputy Minister Georgi Muchaidze, Head of Disarmament and Arms Control Department Zaza Gogsadze, Head of Department of International Organisations Batu Kutelia, Deputy Head of the Military-Political Department Paata Georgidze, Security Council Staff Temuraz Chanturishvili, Deputy to the Assistant to the President of Georgia on Interethnic Relations Irakli Jobava, Office of the Assistant to the President on Interethnic Relations Givi Shakhnazar, Office of the Assistant to the President on Interethnic Relations Vladimer Alelishvili, Co-ordinator of Samtskhe-Javakheti The State Chancellery Gigla Baramidze, President's Authorized Representative in Samtskhe-Javakheti Malkhaz Khoshtatia, Deputy of President's Authorized Representative in Samtskhe-Javakheti Artush Ambartsumian, President's Authorized Representative in Akhalkalaki Norik Ginosyan, Georgia Governance and Civil Society Project (Ninotsminda) Gogi Khutsishvili, International Center for Conflicts and Negotiatons Gogi Gogsadze, UNDP Ararat Esoyan, Centre for Promotion of Reofrms and Democratic development Akhalkalaki Ghia Nodia, Caucasus Institute for Peace Democracy and Development Chairman Board Tamara Pataraya, Caucasus Institute for Peace Democracy and Development Marina Elbakidze, Caucasus Institute for Peace Democracy and Development Dr Alex Rondeli, Centre for Research and Analysis on Foreign Policy Dr Alexandre Kukhianidze, Urban Institute Local Government Porgramme Tengiz Gogotishvili, Droni newspaper Irakli Aladashvili, Defence Journalist Koba Liklikadze, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Journalist Tamar Zaalishvili, Radio 1 David Paichadze, Radio Liberty Maia Eristavi, Sakinformi Misha Mirziashvili, Studio RE Ramaz Aptsiauri, UNA Burduli Zurab, Georgian Young Lawyers Association Nino Darchiashvili, Un Disaster management Office Otar Tavelishvili, Civil Defence Department Tea Chmiashvili, Moambe Mamuka Nebieridze, Euro-Atlantic Research Centre Irma Gegechkori President's Press-Service