By Gregory Aftandilian, Academic Board Member, Policy Forum Armenia Ever since the President Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton’s visit to the Caucasus in October 2018, the issue of Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh (or Artsakh in Armenian) has again taken a front stage. Speaking at a news conference on October 25 in Yerevan, Mr. Bolton suggested that if Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received an electoral mandate in December 2018 he would be in a better position to strike a deal on Nagorno-Karabakh, and that resolving Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan was t ..read more

Հայկական թավշյա հեղափոխությունն արդեն իրողություն է։ Երիտասարդների անհնազանդության ալիքը արագորեն տարածվեց հանրության լայն շրջանակների մեջ եւ փոխեց իրավիճակը։ Նիկոլ Փաշինյանի ճկուն մարտավարության եւ արագ կողմնորոշվելու արդյունքում անհնազանդությունն ընդունեց համընդհանուր մերժման տեսք, վերածվելով տոտալ խաղաղ ապստամբության։ Ամենակրիտիկական պահին բանակն ըստ էության հրաժավեց պաշտպանել ռեժիմը: Խաղաղապահ գնդի մի քանի տասնյակ զինվորականներ դուրս եկան զորամասից եւ միացան ժողովրդին, ինչն էլ որոշեց հեղափոխության անարյուն եւ անցնցում ավարտը։ Մինչ աշխարհը զարմանում է Հայաստանում կատարվածով, իսկ հայ ժողովո ..read more

On May 1, following almost nine hours of parliamentary hearing to consider the nomination of the leader of the opposition, MP Nikol Pashinyan, as Prime Minster, the Armenia’s parliament voted down his candidacy with a 45-56 vote. Yelq Alliance, Tsarukyan Alliance/Prosperous Armenia, and ARF (with one exception) factions voted for, while the ruling Republican party (with one exception and one absent) voting against him. Tens of thousands of citizens in Republic Square and elsewhere around Armenia and in the world were following the parliamentary debate. The result of the vote on May 1 was an u ..read more

By Eduard Abrahamyan, Fellow On Monday, April 23, 2018, while most leaders of the mass protest movement were in detention, Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan resigned under an increasing pressure of almost two hundred thousand protesters across Armenia, a move that inspired enthusiasm and celebration for the overwhelming majority in Armenian citizens. He kept that position for less than a week. The first deputy PM Karen Karapetyan, a former Gazprom executive and Yerevan mayor, stepped in as the acting PM. Sargsyan’s resignation left him—at least implicitly—with the responsibility to negotiate powe ..read more

On April 17, 2018, Serge Sargsyan—who occupied the position of Armenia’s President for two terms since 2008—was chosen by Armenia’s parliament to be the new Prime Minister with enhanced executive powers. This was made possible by the Constitution of 2015, which—together with the parliamentary elections of April 2017—ushered in the ruling Republican party and sealed the deal for Sargsyan to become the PM essentially without term limits. The legitimacy of the constitutional “reform” has been in doubt since the beginning. Like the 2008 election that first brought Sargsyan to power, the December ..read more

A recent article by New York Times based on an investigative report about child sexual abuse by the Afghan security forces shook even the most ardent supporters of the US action in that volatile country. According to that report, systemic sexual abuse of young boys by top military commanders was allowed to go free by the US army, despite available evidence and presence of laws preventing US funding for offending units. Ironically, the Taliban all but eradicated this practice during its rule. This incident reveals one very dark side associated with the way some officials—military and foreign s ..read more

by Varuzhan Avetisyan Foreword To create a sovereign national state we must first liberate our country from the Russian colonialism. That is why the biggest imperative for the Armenian nation should be decolonization. The idea of ​​decolonization should become a tool and guiding principle that unites the Armenian political elite. Below is Varuzhan Avetisyan’s article, which expresses our views on decolonization. This article will be followed by a series of others on the main steps for achieving decolonization. Jirayr Sefilyan Decolonization (Armexit) or the Beginning of the Life Road Follow-u ..read more

by Kristin Cavoukian, Senior Fellow This February, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan invited the Armenian diaspora to be part of the country’s future by contributing to government-led reform efforts. He implored recognized educators and scientists to “bring in a new management culture.” While it is heartening to hear Armenia’s politicians admit they do not have all the answers themselves, this message was troublesome in a number of ways, many of them typical of the appeals to the diaspora made by Armenian authorities since the country’s independence. Moreover, it came on the eve of Armenia’s fi ..read more

An open letter published on the anniversary of July 31, 2016, when Sasna Tsrer temporarily laid down their arms to continue the rebellion. The turbulent world order, which emerged after the Cold War, has created a promising prospects for: (1) the liberation of Armenia from Russian colonial rule (Armexit), which was founded upon the regional architecture shaped by the Russian-Turkish treaties of 1921, and (2) a US-Armenia strategic alliance, an alliance that can resolve strategic problems of both parties and ensure the pursuit of their national interests in a very important inter-regional and ..read more

by Raffi Philippe Kalfayan Reprinted with author’s permission from http://repairfuture.net. The issue of reparations for the Genocide of Armenians may appear quite out of phase with the current state of Armenian-Turkish relations, as well as with the respective emergencies in both countries regarding infringements on civil rights and liberties and security threats. However, although these relations suffer from the weight of history and the understandable distrust that has set in, repairing past damages is a possible option to build foundations for a new era. Setting aside the specific situatio ..read more