The European Union has invested heavily in Armenia’s resilience against foreign information manipulation. But when its own Special Representative reduces Azerbaijan’s state-sponsored historical revisionism to competing “narratives,” diplomacy risks becoming a vehicle for the very manipulation the EU seeks to counter.

In this episode of It Has to Be Said, Maria Titizian examines Armenia’s water crisis and argues that the country’s biggest problem is not a lack of water, but how poorly it’s managed. From leaking infrastructure and inefficient irrigation to untreated wastewater, depleted groundwater and mismanagement, the failures are systemic, and climate change is making them more urgent.

In this episode of “It Has to Be Said”, Maria Titizian reflects on the opening days of Armenia's newly elected parliament and asks whether its members are ready to move beyond political theater and get to work. Elections are only one measure of democracy. What matters just as much is what happens afterward: how parliament legislates, holds government accountable and addresses the everyday challenges that shape people's lives.

In this episode of “It Has to Be Said”, Maria Titizian examines the issue of non-combat deaths in Armenia's Armed Forces. While every military experiences such tragedies, the real question is whether they are treated as unavoidable or as preventable failures that demand accountability, institutional reform and meaningful change. As Armenia rebuilds its military in the aftermath of war and the loss of Artsakh, strengthening the institution is about far more than acquiring new weapons; it also requires transparency, oversight and a commitment to protecting the lives of those who serve.

In this episode of “It Has to Be Said”, Maria Titizian examines one of the Armenian public's longest-standing expectations since the 2018 Velvet Revolution: meaningful judicial reform. While successive governments have acknowledged the shortcomings of the justice system and promised change, the deeper structural problems continue to undermine public trust and confidence.

In this episode of It Has to Be Said, Maria Titizian examines how fear has become one of the dominant tools of Armenia’s parliamentary election campaign. From warnings of war and economic collapse to narratives about “Turkification” and a so-called “Ukraine scenario,” domestic and external actors are increasingly weaponizing public anxiety and collective trauma instead of debating policy and governance.

Armenia’s election campaign hasn’t officially started, but in practice, it already has. In this episode, Maria Titizian examines the legal gray zone before the formal campaign period, where political forces are already spending, organizing and shaping public perception, without clear limits or full transparency.

Since independence, every Armenian administration has amended the Constitution. Each reform has been presented as modernization, democratization, or necessity. But constitutional change in Armenia has often been just as much about political power as legal reform.

Almost half of Armenia’s prison population has not been convicted of a crime, they are awaiting trial. Despite legal reforms and repeated promises that detention would be a last resort, Armenia continues to rank among the highest in Europe for pre-trial detainees. Pre-trial detention is not punishment. It is meant to safeguard due process, to prevent flight, interference with evidence, or further crime. But when it becomes routine, the presumption of innocence begins to erode, and public trust in the justice system weakens.

The regional order in the South Caucasus is shifting. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s back-to-back visits to Yerevan and Baku, following the Washington Accords and the launch of TRIPP, signal a new phase of U.S. engagement in the region. Major defense, nuclear and technology agreements are reshaping strategic calculations. But peace cannot be built on imbalance. Nearly five years after Azerbaijani forces crossed into internationally recognized Armenian territory, key issues remain unresolved: occupation, detainees and the absence of an unequivocal recognition of Armenia’s territorial integrity.