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According to a recent report published by Science-Metrix, via newscientist.com, via Azg daily, scientific output has grown 11 times faster in Iran than the world average, faster than any other country. A survey of the number of scientific publications listed in the Web of Science database shows that growth in two of Armenia’s neighbors – Turkey and Iran – is nearly four times faster than the world average.

Science-Metrix, a data-analysis company in Montreal, Canada, has published a detailed report on "geopolitical shifts in knowledge creation" since 1980. "Asia is catching up even more rapidly than previously thought, Europe is holding its position more than most would expect, and the Middle East is a region to watch," says the report's author, Eric Archambault.

Emerging Asia

World scientific output grew steadily, from 450,000 papers a year in 1980 to 1,500,000 in 2009. Asia as a whole surpassed North America last year.

Archambaut notes that Iran's publications have emphasized inorganic and nuclear chemistry, nuclear and particle physics and nuclear engineering. Publications in nuclear engineering grew 250 times faster than the world average – although medical and agricultural research also increased.

Science-Metrix also predicts that this year, China will publish as many peer-reviewed papers in natural sciences and engineering as the US. If current trends continue, by 2015 China will match the US across all disciplines – although the US may publish more in the life and social sciences until 2030.

China's prominence in world science is known to have been growing, but Science-Metrix has discovered that its output of peer-reviewed papers has been growing more than five times faster than that of the US.

European Resistance

Meanwhile, "European attitudes towards collaboration are bearing fruit", writes Archambaut. While Asia's growth in output was mirrored by North America's fall, Europe, which invests heavily in cross-border scientific collaboration, held its own, and now produces over a third of the world's science, the largest regional share. Asia produces 29 per cent and North America 28 per cent.

Scientific output fell in the former Soviet Union after its collapse in 1991 and only began to recover in 2006. Latin America and the Caribbean together grew fastest of any region, although its share of world science is still small. Growth in Oceania, Europe and Africa has stayed at about the same rate over the past 30 years. Only North American scientific output has grown "considerably slower" than the world as a whole.

Quantity vs. Quality

"The number of papers is a first-order metric that doesn't capture quality," admits Archambaut. There are measures for quality, such as the number of times papers are cited, and "Asian science does tend to be less cited overall."

But dismissing the Asian surge on this basis is risky, he feels. "In the 1960s, when Japanese cars started entering the US market, US manufacturers dismissed their advance based on their quality" – but then lost a massive market share to Japan. The important message, he says, is that "Asia is becoming the world leader in science, with North America progressively left behind".

Iran’s Space Program Advances

One of the areas that Iranian science has made considerable progress in recent years, partly due to the government’s militaristic ambitions, is space.

On 3 February 2010, Iran fired a rocket into space carrying living organisms — a rat, two turtles and worms.

According to the Iranian state-run Press TV, via the New York Times, the test involved a rocket described as the Kavoshgar-3, which is capable of carrying satellites.

Press TV said that the Kavoshgar, or Explorer, was the third of its type to be launched since February 2008 and was carrying an experimental capsule to transfer telemetric data, live pictures and other information to Earth. The model launched on 3 February was described as an updated version of the earlier rockets.

State television broadcast what it said were images of the Kavoshgar-3 hurtling from a desert launching pad, leaving a thick vapor trail. Before the launching, officials were shown putting what looked like living organisms inside a capsule placed in the rocket.

The Iranian Aerospace Organization said live video transmission from the latest launching would “enable further studies on the biological capsule” that was carrying the rat, turtles and worms, Press TV reported.

On the same day Iran also unveiled another satellite carrier, Simorgh-3 (Phoenix), and three new domestically built satellites. The satellite launch and the unveiling of the new prototypes came as Iran marked "Space Technology Day" as part of celebrations for the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

Defeating the West

The milk-bottle shaped rocket, emblazoned in blue with the words "Satellite Carrier Simorgh," is equipped to carry a 100-kilogram satellite 500 kilometers into orbit, the Iranian television, via France 24, report said.

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was "going to send a satellite 500 kilometers up. The next steps are 700 and 1,000 kilometers. Everyone knows that reaching the 1,000 kilometer orbit allows you to reach all orbits."

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi revealed details of three new satellite prototypes -- the Toloo (Dawn), Navid (Good News), and Mesbah-2 (Lantern) -- as well as of Simorgh.

"Toloo is a satellite used for remote survey and weighs 100 kilograms. It is planned to be placed in 500 kilometer orbit for three years," Vahidi said.

"The Simorgh rocket is able to place a satellite weighing 100 kilos in 500 kilometer orbit," Vahidi said, adding that a further refinement of the same design would allow satellites to be placed in a 1,000-kilometer orbit.

Such scientific experiments will help Iran break the "global domineering system" of Western nations, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is reported to have said on state TV. "The scientific arena is where we could defeat the [West's] domination."

Iran hopes to send astronauts into space soon, he added.

Russia celebrated the Day of Science on 8 February 2010. The Day of Science was established 10 years ago on the day when Peter the Great established Russian Academy of Sciences.

Russia has had major achievements in scientific research before and after the Bolshevik Revolution. The situation, however, changed radically following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

According to a Thomson Reuters report released on 26 January, based on the papers published in journals indexed by Thomson Reuters over 5 years, Russia now ranks behind such countries as China (415,000 papers, 8.4 percent of the world total), Canada (4.7 percent), Australia (3.0 percent), India (144,000 papers, 2.9 percent), and only slightly ahead of the Netherlands (2.5 percent) and Brazil (102,000 papers, 2.1 percent).

The report blames chronic underfunding by the Russian government, an aging scientific workforce, lack of public respect for science, and a devastating brain drain in the early 1990s that saw more than 80,000 researchers leave the country in search of better conditions, mostly in western Europe.

The average age for a member of the Russian Academy of Science (RAS) is over 50, and the prestige of a field that gave birth to Sputnik has plummeted. Just 1 percent of Russians polled in 2006 named science as a prestigious career.

The Thomson Reuters report indicates an almost across-the-board decrease, which reflects Russia's shrinking influence not only in science but in knowledge-based industries such as nuclear power.

"Russia's research base has a problem, and it shows little sign of a solution … Russia has been a leader in scientific research and intellectual thinking across Europe and the world for so long that it comes not only as a surprise but a shock to see that it has a small and dwindling share of world activity as well as real attrition of its core strengths."

A New Partner

Furthermore, the report found that the United States, the world leader in scientific research, has displaced Germany as the top collaborator with Russian researchers.

"The opportunities for other countries to link to Russia's institutions of learning must be extensive… The gains for partners are likely to be significant, based simply on Russia's historical contributions. But partners may need to bring resources to the party to enable Russia to participate … By one 2007 account, a few of the best Russian research institutes have budgets for research amounting to 3-5 percent of comparably sized institutes in the United States," the report said.

In October, more than 170 expatriate Russian scientists signed a letter to President Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, complaining about "the catastrophic conditions of fundamental science."

"While other countries have increased their research output, Russia has struggled to maintain its output and even slipped backwards in areas like physics and space science, historically its core strengths," said Jonathan Adams, director of research evaluation at Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters.

Rankings Matter

The release of the Thomson Reuters document coincided with an article in International Higher Education, the journal of the Boston College Centre for International Higher Education, reporting that Russia's poor showing in world university rankings had "stimulated a critical analysis of the current state of higher education and research" in the country.

According to Anna Smolentseva, a senior research fellow at Moscow State University's Institute for Educational Studies, measures have been introduced to help build world-class institutions, including a scheme to designate some as "national research universities" meriting extra funding and autonomy.

But, she adds: "In Russia, practices of academic freedom, peer review and transparency in decision-making and competitions are still insufficient, and such a cultural component might become an obstacle in a search for excellence."

Towards A Brand New System?

In his speech delivered on the occasion of Russian Science Day while handing out prizes to young researchers President Dmitry Medvedev made a pledge to provide housing for all young scientists in the RAS institutes. The country has, he said, been engaged in an effort to provide housing for all military service personnel, a project that will be completed this year. Medvedev says the government will draft an agreement with the RAS to provide young researchers with housing by 1 May. He didn't mention a completion date for this task.

According to a science blog, there were indications in the president's speech that his leadership is beginning to recognize the importance of science:

“We admit we are still only at the start of the road towards rebuilding our science and moving to a new quality of regulation in this sector. No matter how much pride we take in the USSR’s achievements, we all know full well, especially the older generation, that these advances were made in conditions that, while presenting certain advantages, also had some serious shortcomings.

We live in a different world now. The country has changed, the economy has changed, and the world has changed too. Our task therefore is not to recreate a copy of the Soviet system for managing science, but to create a system for the scientific Russia today, a system of incentives and support, regulation, and legal protection for intellectual property, based on international standards. We therefore must set up a brand new system of our own.”

Americans for Artsakh, AFA, a nonprofit U.S.-based organization, that has offered training programs to Artsakh government staff in the past 2 years, has expanded the scope of its programs to include local university students.

According to the Armenian Reporter, AFA sent a team of experienced trainers to Stepanakert and Shushi to provide a leadership skills course to a selected group of university students in the area. Students were selected from a range of local HEIs, and training space was provided by Artsakh State University and the Naregatsi Art Institute in Shushi.

The course included leadership, negotiation, and cognitive effectiveness (or "lateral thinking") training, based on methodology developed by the Harvard University/Mercy Corps Conflict Management Group.

These are topics that local HEIs have not been able to integrate into their curricula since the collapse of the Soviet Union and despite the reforms that they have supposedly implemented.

Leadership in 36 Hours

A total of 30 students received an intensive (8 hours a day), 8 day training session that was broken up into 4 components based on which author was being presented at a given time. Class activities included games, role plays, and various types of team-building exercises that helped reinforce the ideas and foster a sense of camaraderie among the group.

Another component of the program involved the provision of special grants to select students who will conduct their own community service projects using the methods they learned in the course. The grants will be given on a competitive basis, based on which students write the best proposals.

Upon completion of the course, team leader Mr. Arshak Balayan told the Reporter; "People in Artsakh need us. They really need what we teach and I feel that I am doing more than I have done teaching 2 years in Yerevan."

Since AFA began organizing training courses in 2008, most of the trainers have taken note of the great need in the area and deep appreciation that they receive from the beneficiaries in Artsakh.

Because of its unrecognized political status and comparative lack of foreign aid programs, Artsakh's particular disadvantage affects its ability to implement programs such as these. As a result, the enthusiasm of the participants, penetration into the local population, and overall impact are far greater than in many other places.

AFA plans to continue its training courses at both the government and university level, and also offer more subject-specific courses to students and professionals in Artsakh.

Americans for Artsakh, AFA, a nonprofit U.S.-based organization, that has offered training programs to Artsakh government staff in the past 2 years, has expanded the scope of its programs to include local university students.

According to the Armenian Reporter, AFA sent a team of experienced trainers to Stepanakert and Shushi to provide a leadership skills course to a selected group of university students in the area. Students were selected from a range of local HEIs, and training space was provided by Artsakh State University and the Naregatsi Art Institute in Shushi.

The course included leadership, negotiation, and cognitive effectiveness (or "lateral thinking") training, based on methodology developed by the Harvard University/Mercy Corps Conflict Management Group.

These are topics that local HEIs have not been able to integrate into their curricula since the collapse of the Soviet Union and despite the reforms that they have supposedly implemented.

Leadership in 36 Hours

A total of 30 students received an intensive (8 hours a day), 8 day training session that was broken up into 4 components based on which author was being presented at a given time. Class activities included games, role plays, and various types of team-building exercises that helped reinforce the ideas and foster a sense of camaraderie among the group.

Another component of the program involved the provision of special grants to select students who will conduct their own community service projects using the methods they learned in the course. The grants will be given on a competitive basis, based on which students write the best proposals.

Upon completion of the course, team leader Mr. Arshak Balayan told the Reporter; "People in Artsakh need us. They really need what we teach and I feel that I am doing more than I have done teaching 2 years in Yerevan."

Since AFA began organizing training courses in 2008, most of the trainers have taken note of the great need in the area and deep appreciation that they receive from the beneficiaries in Artsakh.

Because of its unrecognized political status and comparative lack of foreign aid programs, Artsakh's particular disadvantage affects its ability to implement programs such as these. As a result, the enthusiasm of the participants, penetration into the local population, and overall impact are far greater than in many other places.

AFA plans to continue its training courses at both the government and university level, and also offer more subject-specific courses to students and professionals in Artsakh.

Anatolia News Agency, via Hurriyet Turkish Daily, reports that the Bilkent University National Nanotechnology Research Center, or UNAM, is planning to undertake a significant role in its field through a workshop on “cleanroom” laboratories. A group of 40 people from North Africa, the Central Asian Turkic republics, the Balkans and Eastern Europe will attend the workshop.

UNAM is Turkey’s largest nanotechnology research center. Funded with the support of the State Planning Organization, it also started nanotechnology seminars for scientists at Turkish universities and research centers at the end of January.

A cleanroom is an area typically used in manufacturing or scientific research that has a low level of environmental pollutants.

Technologies based on nanotechnology bring a new dimension for the production of materials used in all fields, but particularly in cosmetics, medicine, energy and the defense industry, said Necmi Bıyıklı, who is responsible for the UNAM Cleanroom Laboratory.

Turkey has made crucial investments in nanotechnology, said Bıyıklı, adding that significant progress has been achieved. These investments include UNAM’s 62 nanotechnology laboratories, as well as Turkey’s largest academic cleanroom laboratory covering 400 square meters.

Bıyıklı stressed the importance of the use of laboratories and devices in conducting research and making nanotechnology-based products, adding that this helps obtain technology patents as well as train entrepreneurs.

Intensive Cleanroom Training

The Nanotechnology Cleanroom Laboratory started offering full-capacity services to researchers at the end of January, he said. Within this framework, 43 scientists from several universities have benefited from the new training.

Bıyıklı said nanotechnology cleanroom-use training would be periodically organized every month. “Researchers will get to use the equipment necessary for experiments from the process engineers after their cleanroom training. Obtaining experience this way, the researchers will have the opportunity to develop their projects using the equipment by themselves. All they need to do is fill in the information forms on UNAM’s Web site.”

A cleanroom-use workshop in June, meanwhile, will aim to provide applied education for participants from developing countries about cleanroom technologies, nano-device process design, optimization and the latest developments in nanotechnology, Bıyıklı said.

The training will consist of 35 hours of theoretical training from academic staff and 40 hours of applied training by technical staff, he said. “The workshop participants will bring experience and know-how to their own countries and establish a business network with other participants.

Regional Leader in Nanotechnology

This international workshop series aims to help Turkey lead its region in nanotechnology and cleanroom technologies, become a model in terms of technology and economic development for relatively less developed countries and secure and speed up cooperation among neighboring economies.”

The upcoming workshop will run from June 17 to 30 under the management of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, or UNIDO, the coordination of Turkish Ministry of Industry and Trade and the support of the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency, or TİKA, and will include 40 scientists from surrounding regions.

The Diplomatic Academy affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and supported by the European Union, the OSCE and the UN Offices in Yerevan, was officially inaugurated in Yerevan on 15 February 2010. The new HEI intends to respond to the Ministry’s growing need for qualified career diplomats.

President Serge Sargsian attended the official opening ceremony as did Foreign Minister Mr. Edward Nalbandian who has been the main instigator of the project. Almost all foreign diplomats assigned to Armenia were also present.

Students who have been admitted to the Academy were also present. The first cohort fortunately includes several female students. In Armenia many people, including within the political elite, still believe that women cannot be effective and reliable diplomats.

At the new Academy students will mainly study International Relations, International Law, operations of international and regional structures, and will have the opportunity to develop skills that are highly necessary for diplomats such as negotiations and crisis management. Visiting lecturers from prominent foreign HEIs will instruct at the Academy.

The European Union has been the main supporter of the project hoping that the new institution will provide Armenia with a more professional and qualified diplomatic corps. As the country slowly but steadily integrates into European processes and structures, it needs highly qualified forces to manage the complexities inherent in the integration process.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton issued a congratulatory message on the occasion that reads:

“I congratulate Armenia on the opening of the Diplomatic Academy in Yerevan. I trust that this institution will provide an important contribution to the strengthening of EU-Armenia relations.

I warmly welcome the personal dedication and commitment that Foreign Minister Nalbandian has demonstrated in support of this initiative.

I note with pleasure that each year the Diplomatic Academy will offer up to 25 students from Armenia the possibility to improve their knowledge of diplomacy and foreign relations. I am also delighted that the EU, through its Advisory Group in Armenia, has been able to contribute to the setting up of the Diplomatic Academy.

I wish the first students of the Diplomatic Academy, starting their studies today, a challenging and successful experience.”

The Diplomatic Academy affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and supported by the European Union, the OSCE and the UN Offices in Yerevan, was officially inaugurated in Yerevan on 15 February 2010. The new HEI intends to respond to the Ministry’s growing need for qualified career diplomats.

President Serge Sargsian attended the official opening ceremony as did Foreign Minister Mr. Edward Nalbandian who has been the main instigator of the project. Almost all foreign diplomats assigned to Armenia were also present.

Students who have been admitted to the Academy were also present. The first cohort fortunately includes several female students. In Armenia many people, including within the political elite, still believe that women cannot be effective and reliable diplomats.

At the new Academy students will mainly study International Relations, International Law, operations of international and regional structures, and will have the opportunity to develop skills that are highly necessary for diplomats such as negotiations and crisis management. Visiting lecturers from prominent foreign HEIs will instruct at the Academy.

The European Union has been the main supporter of the project hoping that the new institution will provide Armenia with a more professional and qualified diplomatic corps. As the country slowly but steadily integrates into European processes and structures, it needs highly qualified forces to manage the complexities inherent in the integration process.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton issued a congratulatory message on the occasion that reads:

“I congratulate Armenia on the opening of the Diplomatic Academy in Yerevan. I trust that this institution will provide an important contribution to the strengthening of EU-Armenia relations.

I warmly welcome the personal dedication and commitment that Foreign Minister Nalbandian has demonstrated in support of this initiative.

I note with pleasure that each year the Diplomatic Academy will offer up to 25 students from Armenia the possibility to improve their knowledge of diplomacy and foreign relations. I am also delighted that the EU, through its Advisory Group in Armenia, has been able to contribute to the setting up of the Diplomatic Academy.

I wish the first students of the Diplomatic Academy, starting their studies today, a challenging and successful experience.”

The third Hrant Dink Memorial Workshop titled “Silenced but Resilient: Language and Memory in Anatolia and Neighboring Regions” will take place 27-30 May 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey. The workshop, is organized by Sabanci University in collaboration with the International Hrant Dink Foundation and Anadolu Kültür.

The organizing committee is composed of Fikret Adanır, Ayşe Gül Altınay, Burcu Gürsel, Banu Karaca, Gülayşe Koçak, Leyla Neyzi, Işık Özel, and Akşin Somel.

The event’s announcement is as follows:

The early 20th century witnessed the dissolution of multiethnic and multilingual empires in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Incipient nation-states aspired to create homogeneous identities whereby new cultural hierarchies emerged and languages were suppressed in favor of a single national language.

Similarly, the construction of a single historical narrative affected the transmission through memory of other histories and identities. In the context of transnationalism, democratization, and identity politics, however, the recent emphasis on other memories and languages is making it possible to reevaluate the role of language politics as well as the relationship between the past and the present.

Our purpose in this year’s Workshop is to offer a platform for exploring and discussing recent approaches to issues of language and memory. At the turn of the 21st century, the relationship of language and memory with history, the law, politics, and culture constitutes a site of vibrant debate in Anatolia and neighboring regions.

We would thus like to encourage proposals for papers on topics including (but not limited to):

> Linguistic erosion or extinction; interrupted linguistic and cultural transmission in the private and public sphere; forms of resistance to attempts at interruption and extinction

> Law and language: Freedom of speech; discriminatory legal language; linguistic multiplicity and constitutional language(s)

> Discriminatory language and the language of violence in politics, education, and the media

> The role of the public intellectual in language (of) politics and engagement with memory

> Political translation and communication between different forms of identity politics

> Official, popular, and oppositional representations of violence, conflict, trauma, and loss

> Political mechanisms to address wrongdoing in the past and their use of linguistic and memorial representation

> The encounter, distinction, and interpenetration between history and memory

> (Re)constructions of class, gender, “race” and ethnicity in recent works of memory

> Rearticulations of the past through literature, the arts, music, cinema, and other cultural forms

> For registration and further information, please click here to go to the workshop website.

The third Hrant Dink Memorial Workshop titled “Silenced but Resilient: Language and Memory in Anatolia and Neighboring Regions” will take place 27-30 May 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey. The workshop, is organized by Sabanci University in collaboration with the International Hrant Dink Foundation and Anadolu Kültür.

The organizing committee is composed of Fikret Adanır, Ayşe Gül Altınay, Burcu Gürsel, Banu Karaca, Gülayşe Koçak, Leyla Neyzi, Işık Özel, and Akşin Somel.

The event’s announcement is as follows:

The early 20th century witnessed the dissolution of multiethnic and multilingual empires in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Incipient nation-states aspired to create homogeneous identities whereby new cultural hierarchies emerged and languages were suppressed in favor of a single national language.

Similarly, the construction of a single historical narrative affected the transmission through memory of other histories and identities. In the context of transnationalism, democratization, and identity politics, however, the recent emphasis on other memories and languages is making it possible to reevaluate the role of language politics as well as the relationship between the past and the present.

Our purpose in this year’s Workshop is to offer a platform for exploring and discussing recent approaches to issues of language and memory. At the turn of the 21st century, the relationship of language and memory with history, the law, politics, and culture constitutes a site of vibrant debate in Anatolia and neighboring regions.

We would thus like to encourage proposals for papers on topics including (but not limited to):

> Linguistic erosion or extinction; interrupted linguistic and cultural transmission in the private and public sphere; forms of resistance to attempts at interruption and extinction

> Law and language: Freedom of speech; discriminatory legal language; linguistic multiplicity and constitutional language(s)

> Discriminatory language and the language of violence in politics, education, and the media

> The role of the public intellectual in language (of) politics and engagement with memory

> Political translation and communication between different forms of identity politics

> Official, popular, and oppositional representations of violence, conflict, trauma, and loss

> Political mechanisms to address wrongdoing in the past and their use of linguistic and memorial representation

> The encounter, distinction, and interpenetration between history and memory

> (Re)constructions of class, gender, “race” and ethnicity in recent works of memory

> Rearticulations of the past through literature, the arts, music, cinema, and other cultural forms

> For registration and further information, please click here to go to the workshop website.

An international conference titled ‘Azeri terror and policy of ethnic cleansing in Karabakh’ has been announced for 23 March 2010. The event will take place in Artsakh (de facto independent republic of Nagorno-Karabakh). The conference is organized by Artsakh Ministry of Education and Science, Artsakh Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs, Artsakh State University, Kachar Scientific Center, and Shushi Museum of History.

The conference will mark the 90th anniversary of 23 March 1920 Shushi Massacres and the 20th anniversary of Baku Pogroms.

According to News.am online news agency, the event is aimed at uncovering and providing scientific credence to the reasons behind these tragic events. It will also discuss and propose methods of prevention against the policy of ethnic cleansing.

The organizers have also specified that the conference will call for “giving political assessment” to these massacres and the ethnic cleansing policy conducted by Azerbaijani authorities in the 20th century in Ganja, Nagorno-Karabakh, and other regions of Eastern Transcaucasia.

Let’s hope that the conference organizers will ensure that all contributors meet strict standards of scientific inquiry and deliberation. Given the sensitivity of the proposed themes and the tradition of using academic endeavors for political propaganda purposes in the region, particularly in Azerbaijan, I am afraid such an expectation can be hardly met.

The conference will be held in Armenian with handouts in Russian and English.

Another bright idea from Mr. Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia, whom we have previously categorized as an inconsistent democrat and a fake pro-European: Georgia will introduce military classes in schools in 2011.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty reports that Mr. Saakashvili made the announcement while speaking about problems in the country's education system and the need for reforms at a meeting with teachers and students in the city of Batumi on 12 January 2010.

A similar training was an integral part of the Soviet high-school curriculum. It entailed basic physical fitness and learning to assemble and dismantle a Kalashnikov. Mr. Saakashvili termed its abolition in Georgia, following the collapse of the USSR, "over-hasty." He said "anything can happen" in Georgia, and for that reason all Georgians "should be able to defend their town, their village" as an army of 16,000, or even 30,000 men is not adequate for that purpose.

Mr. Saakashvili's spokesperson, Ms. Manana Manjgaladze, said on the following day that the new course will aim to "stimulate soldierly spirit" and will include courses on civil defense and Georgian military history. She said the courses will be taught by military veterans who will go through teacher-training classes and will be first introduced in Tbilisi schools.

According to Georgian Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia, high-school students would have a chance to learn the basics of military discipline, major armament, the structures of armed forces, and even the handling of weapons. He added that the lessons would be interactive and "much more interesting and involving" than the military training in Soviet schools.

"This is in order to give younger generations the chance to understand the importance of the military forces for the country, the purpose of military forces in the security of the country, and the duty of each citizen in this direction," Akhalaia, 29, who was appointed in August 2009, declared.

Mr. Giorgi Baramidze, the State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration and a former Defense Minister, said more work needed to be done to teach Georgians about their country and the threats it faces.

“The country must sense that great tasks lie before it. Greater mobilization is necessary, and there must be more patriotism in our daily life. You do not see this if you go onto the street, into a restaurant, or a public building,” he said.

A group of experts assembled by the education ministry are due to present a detailed plan.

Injecting Patriotism

According to an article by Anna Kandelaki at Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), Georgians who grew up in the Soviet era cannot help comparing their Soviet era lessons to the proposed ones.

“They [Soviets] taught us that America is the enemy. Now our children’s brains will be filled with the fact that the enemy is Russia. Today Russia is the enemy of Georgia, but why does a child have to grow up with a constant feeling that someone will attack? Should a child think about enemies, or do his lessons?” asked Vakhtang, a 54-year-old Tbilisi resident.

His opinion finds echoes throughout society and has also been reflected on internet discussion sites like Facebook.

“A child could imbibe the information from these lessons incorrectly and become a racist, a Russophobe or a misanthrope,” said one poster called Marina, although others approved of the president’s plan.

“Russia is our enemy and every Georgian must know this from childhood. I don’t see anything bad in this,” wrote another poster called Lada.

Opinion polls would suggest that Lada’s viewpoint is more widely-held in society than Marina’s more cautious one. Some 64 per cent of respondents to a talk-show on public television said they approved of military-patriotic lessons being taught in Georgian schools.

But teachers were more skeptical of the scheme than the public at large. Levan Gigineishvili, a Georgian-language teacher at the American Academy, was very doubtful of its success.

“You cannot inject children with patriotism,” he said. “We previously taught patriotism as a separate subject, but the methods did not prove successful. It was too artificial, and the children sensed its artificial nature and were disappointed by it.”

And other experts worried that the government, in introducing the ideas of citizens’ defense under the cover of lessons in patriotism, was actually teaching the children its own ideology and militarized propaganda.

Other commentators went even further. “The introduction of military-patriotic training means that the president has finally given up on liberal values,” said Zaal Andronikashvili, a professor of philosophy.

“Military patriotism is a form of extreme nationalism, which uses external threats to mobilise the masses. And military-patriotic preparation is a typical totalitarian practice, which was used by the Nazis and the Bolsheviks with equal enthusiasm.”

Despite its gradual integration into various EU processes, Armenia dramatically lacks competent personnel knowledgeable about EU policies and practices. A new program will be launched soon to partially address this issue. The program will provide Armenian University graduates in 2010 with the opportunity to become directly acquainted with the EU policies and best practices.

According to the Armenian Public Radio, an agreement was recently signed between Armenia and the European Union to this end. On 2 February 2010, Mr. Arthur Baghdasarian, Secretary of the National Security Council, Ambassador Raul de Luzenberger, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia and Ms. Dafina Gercheva, UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia signed the agreement for placement of trainees with the EU Advisory Group to the Republic of Armenia.

The Program allows young graduates to work closely with the EU advisors in respective fields of their activities such as trade, customs, public administration reform, public debt or human rights. Trainees will have a unique opportunity to learn about European and international standards to be applied in Armenia, and thus become junior experts with skills and knowledge highly desirable in the Armenian labor market.

An independent selection committee will be established to conduct the interviews and decide on the selection of trainees. An open competition shall be announced once a year. Selected trainees will be placed for one year and receive a monthly contribution to their living expenses.

Turkish universities are becoming more proactive in the innovation process. The Middle East Technical University (METU) seems taking the lead in this process by establishing and promoting a new ‘business angels’ network association in Turkey. The new association will provide support to early-stage technology entrepreneurs.

“Our aim is to develop the business angel sector in Turkey and boost technology-based economic development. Turkey should be a technology producer, not a consumer, an important precondition for the welfare of the country in the medium and long run,” Mr. Ahmet Acar President of METU told Hürriyet Turkish Daily in a recent interview.

Once used in the art world to describe wealthy individuals who provided money for theatrical productions, the term business angel now refers to qualified, experienced and affluent businesspeople who provide capital, expertise, managerial assistance and a network for early-stage entrepreneurs to solve their initial financing problems and help establish their firms in the marketplace.

In fact this activity at the University started 3 years ago when METU Technopolis, the University’s incubator arm, established the Association for Business Angels or Metutech-Ban to both help the concept of business angels grow in Turkey and support early-stage entrepreneurs in technology-related fields.

“There are some entrepreneurs who have a start-up with a technological advantage but lack the necessary financial resources or managerial skills to operate the enterprise. For this, business angels in our association play a crucial role,” Acar said.

“During the business’ first phase, the entrepreneur usually gets the required support from family or friends. The business’ second phase, however, is the growth and development phase where the firm needs real, specialized support. The business angels step in at this crucial point,” Acar added.

The investors, who are members of the association, are highly regarded and successful businesspeople from disciplines such computer engineering, electrical engineering, biotechnology, software and banking who share their skills and capital with fledgling entrepreneurs joining the association.

“These investors know business life very well so they are equipped with enough experience and insight to foresee which company will be successful. They lend their support to promising firms accordingly,” Acar said.

These kinds of investors are well established in Europe. There are 75,000 business angels with 334 networks in Europe, according to 2008 data from the European Business Angel Network, or EBAN.

For Acar, the concept of the business angel and the role the association plays are thus vital in terms of encouraging technological innovations and development in Turkey. “Turkey can’t achieve its economic development based solely on raw materials and a cheap labor force. It should have an economy based on innovation and continuously develop its technology base.”

The association was crucial in convincing EBAN to host its next annual congress in Istanbul. The congress, which has been held before in Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands, will take place 14-15 April with the participation of President Abdullah Gül. Some 500 participants from abroad and Turkey are expected to attend the congress.

“With such an event, we aim to create awareness on the issue and bring together different stakeholders including bureaucrats, politicians, private and public sector representatives, entrepreneurs and bankers. I think the gathering will be an important step to attract attention to the all-important concept of business angels and technology-based development,” Acar said.

In a recent interview with T.P. of News.am Armenian online news agency, Mr. Samvel Haroutunian Chairman of the State Committee on Science commented on the Armenian-Russian Innovation Center due to be inaugurated soon. His very optimistic tone lead the journalist to title the interview ‘The Armenian-Russian Innovation Center will resolve innovation project problems.’

In the area of innovation, including commercialization of innovation, it is a fact that Russia has faced and continues to face many structural problems as does Armenia and therefore I cannot share such overly optimistic expectations regarding the perspectives of their collaboration. The interview nevertheless contains many important information and ideas:

Mr. Harutyunyan, last October Igor Morozov, Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Agency Rossotrudnichestvo (Rusintercenter), reported the establishment of a Russian-Armenian Innovation Center in Armenia. The Center was to operate at the Russian Center of Science and Culture. At what stage is the project now?

The Russian-Armenian Innovation Center is expected to start operating late this month. The Center does not have many staff members yet, but the staff will certainly grow later. I would like to note that the decision to found the Center was made at the highest level, by the Russian and Armenian Presidents. The decision was followed by long discussions between the two governments, with experts involved.

I would also like to point out that Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) (Russia), Academician Alexei Sisakian greatly contributed to the foundation of the Center in Armenia. Finally, a decision was made to launch a pilot program of establishing innovation centers, with the first launched in Yerevan.

Why did Russia select Armenia as the first of the CIS member-states for this project? We have no common border, and the two states have greatly different population sizes.

Let us remember that Armenia was traditionally among the leaders in the former Soviet Union as to per capita number of scientists. This is evidence of our country’s great scientific potential. So such factors as area and population size are not essential.

Unfortunately, some of our talented scientists emigrated in search of higher salaries. But we hope that the project will encourage specialists in this field to return to Armenia.
Also, Armenia’s small territory has its advantages – research is easier to conduct. Of course, the project will not be implemented in Armenia alone. Similar centers will be founded in the other CIS member-countries, as well as in Berlin, Germany. All the issues will be specified after the pilot program has been launched in Armenia.

Are there any specific programs the Russian-Armenian Center will implement? Will the center’s activities be restricted to innovative programs?

We have 2-3 programs in the field of nanomaterials. But it is too early to specify the program portfolio. The Russian side will propose programs to us, as we will consider the possibility of implementing them in Armenia. Of course, the Center will not restrict its activities to this. For example, Russian specialists will conduct training courses in science management for young Armenian scientists.

Many research results are not applied in practice because of poor management, which affects commercialization of science in Armenia. Also, we plan an exhibition of products and innovation programs in Armenia.

Innovation programs have hardly been implemented in Armenia since the USSR collapsed…

You are right. The cause was a simple one; lack of money for such research. Innovation projects are “high-risk” ones as far as return on investment in concerned. Specifically, 10 of 100 innovation projects normally pass scientific expert examinations, with only one project producing practical results. On the other hand, the economic impact of this one compensates for the money spent on all the others. So venture funds normally finance such “high-risk” projects. However, the formation of such funds in Armenia has been talked about for many years, with no practical steps made so far.

A business environment was formed in Armenia long ago, and large enterprises are operating. Amid globalization and integration of the Armenian economy into the global market, enhancing the competitiveness of local products and services is an urgent matter. Does this fact draw businessmen’s attention to science?

Unfortunately, the Armenian business community has not yet “matured” for funding the research it actually needs. Local businessmen are guided by the following principle: investing money today and getting profit from research tomorrow. So we cannot speak of any interest in fundamental research on the Armenian business community’s part, as such research produces results many years later. But we expect the Russian-Armenian Innovation Center to resolve the problems of launching innovation projects. The Russian side has promised its huge market to us.

The State Committee on Science is a recently formed agency. Are there any legal problems that impede full-scale activities, particularly, in the field of innovation projects?

It is a most topical question. Of course, the previously adopted laws and government decisions did not provide for our agency. Specifically, as far as innovation programs are concerned, I do not think the present separation of functions between the State Committee on Science and the Ministry of Economy is optimal. Why should the Ministry of Economy be in charge of commercializing research results, but not the Committee on Science, which is a specialized agency? It is not clear how the ministry experts are going to conduct examination of research projects. Moreover, no funds have been assigned to the ministry for the examination from the state budget. All these issues need settling.