Against the backdrop of Yerevan’s wine festival, Mikayel Zolyan explores the anxieties and hopes of post-election Armenia, the challenge of Russian interference, the responsibilities of citizenship, and what it means to shape the country’s future rather than simply watch it unfold.

In this sweeping look at Viktor Orbán’s rise and fall, Mikayel Zolyan explores how Hungary’s “illiberal democracy” unraveled, driven by economic decline, political fatigue and how an unlikely challenger, Peter Magyar, capitalized on the moment, with broader implications for Europe, Armenia and beyond.

Nearly half a century later, Ararat-73 still looms large in Armenia’s collective memory. More than a football triumph, the team embodied national pride under “apricot socialism,” blending Soviet structure with Armenian identity and leaving behind a legacy that continues to shape nostalgia, culture and belonging.

Moldova’s quiet resilience tells a story of survival. Political analyst Mikayel Zolyan traces how this small nation confronted Russian hybrid warfare, reclaimed its democratic voice, and reflects on what its hard-won lessons might mean for Armenia’s struggle against disinformation and dependence.

In this second of a two-part series, Mikayel Zolyan looks at the external threats to the Armenian revolution. He writes that while security concerns continue to be real, the Armenian government and society need to make sure that the government system is well-functioning and ready to face external challenges.

In the first of a two-part series, Mikayel Zolyan looks as the internal threats facing Armenia’s new government following the Velvet Revolution - the continued resistance of the remains of the ancien régime and potential radicals within the revolutionary camp.

In this new piece, Mikayel Zolyan writes about the similarities and differences between the 1988 Karabakh Movement and the 2018 Velvet Revolution - what it meant for people then and now and lessons to be learned.

Long before the first rallies and clashes over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, there were several signs of the coming storm writes Mikayel Zolyan. One of these was the “war of memory,” waged not by soldiers, but in the sphere of historiography.

There are protests on the streets of Yerevan again. This time it is a student protest against a controversial bill on mandatory military service. One of the most powerful student protest movements in Armenia was in 2004 and ironically, some participants of these earlier protests are today themselves pushing for the abolishment of draft deferment for university students from ARP ranks.

Will Serzh Sargsyan become prime minister after the end of his second term as president of Armenia? Will he be ready to relinquish power? Political analyst Mikayel Zolyan offers some compelling analysis.