Examining the Context

For the first time, a deep dive into Armenia’s intelligence community and its pivotal role in developing early warning systems. A conversation with Nerses Kopalyan, author of the EVN Security Report series, on the challenges, capabilities, and future of Armenian intelligence.

In this episode of “Examining the Context” podcast, Nerses Kopalyan explains why Armenia’s efforts to rearm and build deterrence capabilities pose a direct challenge to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s grand strategy of maintaining military dominance over Yerevan. While a full-scale war remains unlikely, the risk of targeted strategic or surgical strikes against Armenia is high.

On January 14, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed the U.S.-Armenia Strategic Partnership Commission charter, a milestone in relations between the two nations. The agreement opens new pathways for deepening engagement in economic development, energy, security, democracy, justice, and people-to-people exchanges. Nerses Kopalyan provides contextual analysis and explains its strategic implications for Armenia.

In this episode of “Examining the Context”, Dr. Nerses Kopalyan delves into the emerging contours of the Trump Doctrine, shedding light on the competing policy orientations within his administration and their potential implications for the South Caucasus—particularly Armenia’s security landscape.

In this episode of “Examining the Context” podcast, Dr. Nerses Kopalyan explains how decades of dependency on Russia, neglect of military modernization, and policy missteps by successive Armenian administrations left Armenia’s security apparatus idle as Azerbaijan emerged as a regional military power.

Armenia faces distinct security threats from Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia, with Russia posing the most complex and severe challenge through cyber operations. In this episode of “Examining the Context” podcast, Nerses Kopalyan explains the concept of subversion as a tenable risk-mitigation strategy against these threats.

In this episode of “Examining the Context” podcast, Dr. Nerses Kopalyan explains what U.S. foreign policy will hold for Armenia and the region if Kamala Harris wins in the upcoming presidential elections in the United States.

In this episode of “Examining the Context” podcast, Dr. Nerses Kopalyan explains the concept of defense diplomacy to understand the strategic framework guiding America’s increasing engagement with Armenia’s security landscape.

In this episode of “Examining the Context” podcast, Dr. Nerses Kopalyan notes that public discourse in Armenia incorrectly attempts to situate the country’s security context within the larger international constellation. He argues that a more cogent and empirically substantive approach can be established through the concept of Regional Security Complex Theory.

In this episode of "Examining the Context" podcast, Dr. Nerses Kopalyan talks about de-hybridization, a new trend in security studies. He discusses how states frequently targeted by hybrid attacks can develop strategies to counter and prevent the effectiveness of hybrid warfare.