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The Black Sea Security Program had its genesis in 1997 when Harvard Kennedy School reached out to Ukraine as a fledgling democracy. Over the years this program has expanded its reach first to include other former Soviet Black Sea countries and currently to countries in the greater Black Sea region. An overarching goal has been to encourage regional security through cooperation and integration. It is unique in its mission to bring together leading policy makers in the region with senior US officials to gain a deeper understanding of issues affecting the region and to encourage problem solving in areas of common interest. The program typically involves senior military representatives and civilian security specialists from the United States and ten regional countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Recent efforts to reach out have brought participants from Kazakhstan, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia to Harvard. The Black Sea Security Program and its predecessor – the Ukrainian National Security Program – have brought together more than 400 regional participants and 160 American participants since 1997.
The program aims to:
- Deepen participants' understanding of global and regional strategy, defense organization, and military reform and restructuring;
- Identify the very broad common areas of agreement that exist among the Black Sea nations and expose their officials and the US participants to the strong common history and shared values of the region;
- Highlight the specific areas of current cooperation on issues of vital interest to these countries and, at the same time, identify those issues which divide them and present challenges to regional cooperation;
- Expose the Black Sea officials to the free flow of ideas inherent in the pluralistic American system and within the US national security community itself by engaging them with officials who represent a wide range of viewpoints.
Black Sea Security Program Regional Workshops
Regional Workshops were added to the program concept in 2002 to 1) strengthen and expand the regional network encouraged by the annual Black Sea Security Program; 2) provide a forum for regional experts to discuss critical security issues pertaining to the region; 3) involve US general officers and policy makers in Black Sea regional dialogue; and 4) recruit key individuals for future iterations of the program. The most recent Harvard Black Sea Security Program Regional Workshop took place in Yerevan, Armenia, October 2008. Approximately 45 participants from the United States and regional countries gathered to discuss regional cooperation and relations with NATO and the EU. The Armenia workshop was the seventh gathering of alumni and regional experts affiliated with Harvard’s Black Sea Security Program.
Prior Workshops took place in Yalta, Ukraine (2002); Baku, Azerbaijan (2003); Batumi, Georgia (2004), Chisinau, Moldova (2005), Bucharest, Romania, (2006) and Kiev, Ukraine (2007). In addition to program alumni, the workshops host European representatives from NATO, the EU, and various international organizations. The Workshops have been an ideal venue for bringing alumni together with European representatives from both government and non-government organizations.
The next Regional Workshop will take place in Moscow in October 2009.
The Black Sea Security program is funded by a generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.
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