In EVN Report's news roundup for the week of October 23: Eurasian Economic Union members—Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan—warn Armenia of the consequences of leaving the bloc; parliament begins ratification process of the U.S. framework agreement on TRIPP; pressure on opposition candidates and alleged vote-buying raise concerns in municipal elections and more.

Post-Soviet cultural syndromes have reproduced a political culture in Armenia marked by benevolent nepotism, low institutional trust, disregard for the law and weak civic responsibility which has produced an unhealthy political culture, writes Nerses Kopalyan. He argues that reconciling Hayastantsi cultural norms with the demands of a modern state is essential to overcoming political underdevelopment.

What if the Armenian Diaspora stopped asking what it can do for Armenia and began asking what it needs to become in its own right? Drawing on the history of New Julfa, Tigran Yegavian argues for a polycentric Armenian world in which Armenia and the Diaspora remain connected without one being subsumed by the other.

From the unforgiving beauty of Lake Sevan to forgotten photographers, humanist art, Gaza, new commercial galleries and a glossy Armenian romcom, Vigen Galstyan helps the reader navigate a cultural landscape full of contradictions. Along the way, he considers what art remembers, what it resists, and how Armenia's cultural life is changing.

In EVN Report's news roundup for the week of October 16: Armenia is set to host COP17, the UN biodiversity summit in a few days; the controversial Amulsar gold mine begins operations; Armenia’s government declares ENA’s entire share capital to be of overriding public interest; another non-combat death reported in the Armed Forces and more.

Yerevan’s rivers, springs and fountains have gradually disappeared from the city’s visible landscape. Through “Blue Yerevan”, a cultural research project examining the city’s water heritage, Elizaveta Zubiuk explores what was lost, what remains beneath the surface, and how making forgotten waterways visible can reshape the way we see the city.

Armenia is hosting COP17 while leaving key international environmental commitments unfinished. From transboundary water management and wastewater to pollution monitoring and transparency, Hranoush Dermoyan examines what ratifying these agreements could change and why implementation matters.

A conversation with Restart Civic-Youth Foundation board member, national security and diplomacy expert Davit Petrosyan about the future of politics in Armenia, what hinders the youth from becoming more political and empowered, and one of the main causes of non-combat deaths in the army.

Armenia is investing more in science, technology and research, but the institutions and people needed to connect those investments remain underdeveloped. The result is a system of scientific oases without the infrastructure, talent and institutional links needed to turn them into sustained national capability. Lilit Margaryan explains.