A beach house in Lebanon, Armenian khachkars and Kurdish orchards in Iraq seem to have little in common and while the legal and geopolitical contexts may differ, Karena Avedissian traces the logic that connects them, revealing how security narratives can transform people, places and memory into perceived threats.

Syria’s January 2026 offensive against Rojava threatens a decade of decentralized, pluralistic governance in northeast Syria. Among those at risk are Islamized Armenians, whose hard-won political and cultural gains illustrate the fragility of local autonomy under centralization.

Reflecting on the fall of Artsakh and the genocide in Gaza, Karena Avedissian calls on Armenians to reject isolationism and build principled solidarity with Palestinians and other oppressed peoples facing state violence, colonialism and global impunity.

At Dubai Airport, a Yerevan-bound flight boards beside one for Baku. Karena Avedissian writes about how an outburst from a fellow Armenian traveler reflects the lingering trauma of war and ethnic cleansing.

Armenia’s recent turn away from Russia has sparked European hopes that the country could finally join the West. But that’s not the whole story. Karena Avedissian explains.

Confronted with concerns over the humanitarian situation in Artsakh at a UN Security Council session, Azerbaijan’s representative held up printouts of Instagram posts to prove Armenians are lying about being methodically starved.

Diplomacy, or more accurately diplomatic coercion, may ultimately avoid another war, but the endgame that the mediators seem certain to impose on the Artsakh Armenians would be nothing short of a total unilateral capitulation, writes Karena Avedissian.

Armenia has fulfilled nearly all its obligations under the tripartite ceasefire statement that brought the 2020 Artsakh War to an end. Azerbaijan has not upheld its side of the bargain, nor does it seem intent to. Karena Avedissian explains.

Georgia’s “foreign agent law” was introduced and subsequently pulled from parliament after massive protests erupted opposing the move. Karena Avedissian looks at the implications for the wider region had the law passed.

The “anticipation of violence” encapsulates how in contexts with drawn-out conflict, violence is present in the mundane, and the sense that renewed violence is inevitable becomes a regular feature of everyday life.