Our Research Fellow of the Foreign and Security Policy Program, Andreja Bogdanovski, accompanied by the current residential intern, Angel Kulakov, attended the one-day regional conference on “The New NATO: Developing the New Strategic Concept”, organized by the Euro-Atlantic Council of Macedonia as a member of the Atlantic Treaty Association. Highly topical in light of the fact that the ten-year framework document is supposed to be adopted at the next summit of the organization, which is expected to take place in Lisbon this November, the focus of the panel discussions was primarily on the reinvented role and mission of the Alliance. Other topics included the various modes of operations and partnerships under the new Strategic Concept, and the open-door policy of the organization in the region of Southeastern Europe. The event was sponsored by NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, in addition to being supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Macedonia.

Our residential intern, Angel Kulakov, took part in the public debate on “The State of Education in Macedonia and Future Perspectives”, organized by the Progres Institute for Social Democracy, in cooperation with the Student Council at FON University and the Center for Research and Policy Making. As the title of the event explicitly suggests, its primary aim was to encourage a critical assessment on the current situation of the educational system in Macedonia, especially within institutions of higher education, as well as the most promising opportunities for further development in the sector.

From 27-28 May 2010 Analytica’s Research Coordinator Natasha Hroneska took part in a Data Management training course as part of the Regional Research Promotion Programme in the Western Balkans (RRPP) that aims at establishing and strengthening research capacities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia (http://www.rrpp-westernbalkans.net/), managed by the University of Fribourg and financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC.

Analytica’s Research Fellow, Agim Selami, took part at the Communications Workshop “Working with the Media and Writing for the Media” organized by PASOS and Open Society Institute. The course was tailored to the needs of communications staff/policy analysts or researchers whose work requires contact with the media. The event took place from 25 – 27 May, 2010 in London.