DRASTAMAT KANAYAN’S DESCENDANTS VISIT THE INSTITUTE NAMED AFTER THEIR GRANDFATHER

On May 24 Dro and Philip Kanayans, who were on a tour to Armenia in the framework of the events on the 100^th anniversary of the First Republic of Armenia, visited the National Defense Research University (NDRU), MOD, RA. They were accompanied by Arpi Vartanian, Regional Director, Office of the Armenian Assembly of America. The guests were hosted by Lieutenant General Hayk Kotanjian, Founding Head, NDRU, MOD, RA, Doctor of Political Science, Professor.

The goal of the visit was to get acquainted with the activity of the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), which bears the name of one of the founders of the First Armenian Republic, the hero of the battle of Bash Aparan, the last Military Minister of the First Republic of Armenia—Drastamat Kanayan. The INSS is now included in the NDRU, MOD, RA, as University’s research component.

The foundation of the INSS was one of the initial steps of Armenia-Diaspora effective cooperation in the defense sphere. The Kanayan family had long been nourishing the idea of establishing an institution which would deal with strategic problems of national security in Armenia. The research institute after General Kanayan became a living monument perpetuating his memory. In pursuance of the establishment of the institute, by the initiative of the Kanayans, in 1998-2000 fundraising was launched in the Armenian-populated communities of the US and Canada, among the organizers of which was Colonel H. Kotanjian, then the RA defense attaché in the US.

The INSS was founded in the framework of the establishment of the National Defense Research University, as the research component of the future University, as well as its intellectual basis and backbone. The NDRU establishment project in the RA was elaborated and reviewed in the US National Defense University in 2003-2004 during the academic fellowship of H. Kotanjian. The INSS launched in 2005. In 2007 it became the academic coordinator of the interagency elaboration of the first Armenian National Security Strategy through the application of the American methodology by the US counseling.

On 28 January, 2016, the solemn opening ceremony of the NDRU, MOD, RA – which was established through the transformation of the INSS – was held. INSS continues its activities as a research component of the NDRU together with the educational component of the University – the National Institute for Strategic Defense Security Education. In essence, it’s been more than ten years that the INSS NDRU, as a RA state think tank, has been conducting strategic analyses in the defense security sphere and submitting relevant conclusions and recommendations to the state military-political leadership.

In March 2018, the INSS implemented the RA National Security Strategy Review process, the methodology of which was based on Professor H. Kotanjian’s and the NDRU youngster Research Fellows’ continuously updating knowledge gained during their academic fellowships at the US, RF, Israeli, German and Chinese leading academic centers.

During the meeting Professor Kotanjian introduced the NDRU’s activities and Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan, Head, Drastamat Kanayan Institute for National Strategic Studies—Deputy Head for Research, NDRU, briefed on the INSS achievements. The guests were impressed by the visit, they appreciated and highly estimated the patriotically committed work of the NDRU, and the INSS in particular, for the benefit of the security of Armenia and Artsakh, as well as the enhancement of the Armenia-Diaspora bonds.

National Defense Research University