The Women & Global Security Architecture (WGSA) is pleased to announce the launch of the 2026 cycle of its flagship initiative, the Comprehensive Security & Resilience Project.

Conceived in 2024, the Project was established in response to Armenia’s pressing need to reform, modernize, and adapt its security architecture amid profound internal and external challenges. Since its inception, the initiative has pioneered an inclusive, expert-driven, and internationally informed dialogue dedicated to advancing comprehensive defense and security alongside democratic resilience.

The 2026 cycle builds directly upon this foundation, launching at a critical juncture—not only for Armenia, but for all democracies undergoing strategic adaptation in the face of escalating geopolitical pressure, foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), and rapidly evolving hybrid threats.

Following the June 2026 parliamentary elections, Armenia enters a decisive phase. The nation must solidify its strategic direction by anchoring its democratic choice within institutional strength, societal cohesion, and long-term national resilience. Armenia’s current landscape reflects the broader dilemmas faced by front-line democracies operating in contested geopolitical environments: how to safeguard sovereignty, secure critical supply chains, reinforce public trust, and preempt hybrid interference while simultaneously building whole-of-society resilience and whole-of-government preparedness.

Against this backdrop, the Comprehensive Security & Resilience Project – 2026 will explore how democratic choice can be harnessed effectively to generate national resilience. Furthermore, it will examine not only how Armenia and its democratic partners can develop localized approaches to comprehensive security, institutional agility, and societal readiness, but also how they can enrich wider international systems with their own experiences in an era of global fragmentation, uncertainty, and intense strategic competition

Key Objectives

The Comprehensive Security & Resilience Project – 2026 is driven by the following core objectives:

  • Translate Democratic Legitimacy into Strategic Strength: Examine mechanisms to effectively transform post-election democratic legitimacy into institutional resilience, heightened public trust, and robust national preparedness frameworks.
  • Strengthen Whole-of-Society Engagement: Foster the active involvement of civil society, think tanks, cybersecurity experts, military-industrial enterprises, academia, the media, and independent experts in shaping comprehensive security mindsets, formulating policy, and steering its implementation. 
  • Counter Hybrid Threats and FIMI: Deepen institutional and public understanding of asymmetric vulnerabilities, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), and close strategic communication gaps to build proactive societal immunity.
  • Generate Actionable, Evidence-Based Policy Inputs: Produce rigorous, data-driven analysis and practical policy recommendations that provide state decision-makers and key stakeholders with a roadmap from strategic design to execution.
  • Facilitate High-Level Knowledge Exchange: Serve as a premier platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue, bridging the public and private sectors of Armenia and its international partners to share best practices on comprehensive security. 
  • Position Armenia within Global Security Discourse: Contextualize Armenia’s unique experience of strategic adaptation within broader international conversations regarding front-line democratic resilience and hybrid warfare.

Core Components of the 2026 Project

The 2026 cycle is structured around four interconnected components:

1. Whole-of-Society Consultations

The WGSA will conduct a comprehensive consultation process engaging military-sports organizations, analytical centers/NGOs specialized in security issues, defense industry companies, and cybersecurity experts. These sessions are designed to capture vital stakeholder perspectives, mapping out actionable pathways to strengthen Armenia’s whole-of-society resilience and civilian preparedness.

2. Synthesis Paper

Based on the outcomes of the consultations, the WGSA will develop a policy paper (a package of recommendations), summarizing and incorporating ideas made by the participants, along with their proposals aimed at addressing the identified issues. The document will be disseminated among relevant state administration bodies, other stakeholders of the whole-of-society approach, and international partners.

3. Comprehensive Security & Resilience International Conference – 2026

In September, Yerevan will host a two-day Comprehensive Security & Resilience International Conference, operating under the slogan: “From Strategy to Action.” This high-level event will bring together Armenian and international stakeholders to analyze evolving regional and global security dynamics, examine whole-of-society and whole-of-government preparedness models, as well as deliberate on mechanisms to counter hybrid threats and FIMI. Additionally, participants will address supply chain security, critical infrastructure resilience, and practical mechanisms to operationalize the military pillar within a Comprehensive Defense and Security System.

4. Follow-up Policy Paper and Advocacy Engagement

Following the Conference, WGSA will develop a comprehensive, actionable policy paper that synthesizes the critical insights, data, and institutional solutions generated across the Conference. WGSA will subsequently undertake targeted advocacy activities with state decision-makers and oversight bodies to facilitate the integration of these recommendations into national security frameworks. Concurrently, it will leverage public diplomacy to engage international partners in mobilizing support and aligning strategic approaches, while conducting a series of public interviews to foster broad societal awareness and resilience.

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