On December 6th, the Diplomatic School organised a meeting of the alumni of all past promotions of the Diplomacy & International Relations Programme and the Mid-career Training programme of the School, held at the main exhibition hall of the House of the Artists' Union of Armenia in Yerevan.

The Director of the Diplomatic School, Ambassador Vahe Gabrielyan higlighted the importance of the training offered by the School both for the Diplomatic Service of Armenia and for the general educational landscape in the country. “Continuing post-training cooperation among our alumni is not only a sign of the School’s success in accomplishing its mission; it also further strengthens the public sector in the country”. 

Representing the sponsor of the event, the Head of Delegation of the European Union, Ambassador Piotr Switalski underpinned the importance of the Diplomatic School. "It is the instituition, which informs the future diplomats and international relations professionals of Armenia, who will be in charge of shaping future Armenia-EU relations",said Ambassador Switalski. "Overlooking the previous and current support project," he added, "the goal of European Union assistance has been to reinforce the capacity of Armenian diplomatic personnel and to provide young diplomats with an understanding of the European Union and European values in international relations and foreign policy dialogue".

The keynote speech of the evening, on the relevance of academic study of Diplomacy for diplomats, was delivered by Dr Paul Sharp, Professor and Head of Political Science at the University of Minnesota Duluth and Senior Visiting Fellow at the Clingendael, Netherlands Institute of International Relations, representing the international faculty teaching at the School. He said that the Diplomatic School of Armenia has very motivated students who are both critical and excited to learn new approaches and views. "We all have our own personal and cultural history and perspective on the world, which is why the biggest added value of a programme taught by international faculty is to see that perspective challenged by the diversity of views that surrounds us," Professor Sharp noted.

The around 100 participants of the event comprised young diplomats who have joined the Armenian diplomatic service after graduation from the Diplomacy &International Relations programme, diplomats and Armenian International Relations professionals who participated in the mid-career programme, as well as senior staff from the Foreign Ministry and heads of International Relations departments of other public bodies in Armenia where some of the alumni of the Diplomatic School are already active.

The Diplomatic School of Armenia started its programmes in 2010, training future and serving diplomats, as well as staff of government agencies working at departments of external relations. The School has successfully fulfilled that role in the past years with direct support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international donors, including the European Union and OSCE.