In this episode of “Examining the Context” podcast, Nerses Kopalyan unpacks Russia’s evolving strategy to undermine Armenia’s democracy, focusing on hybrid tactics, electoral interference, and soft power ahead of the 2026 parliamentary elections and explores how these pressures could shape Armenia’s political future and societal resilience.
Drawing from Moldova’s recent experience, Armenia must brace for a coordinated and covert Kremlin strategy aimed at electoral interference and destabilizing its democracy ahead of the 2026 parliamentary elections. Nerses Kopalyan explains Russia’s evolving hybrid warfare tactics and “traceless manipulation” operations.
Is Aliyev genuinely pursuing peace, or is he using negotiations to cement his geopolitical gains? Nerses Kopalyan, author of the EVN Security Report series dissects Azerbaijan’s approach to the peace talks and explores the deeper reasons why Aliyev will not sign a peace deal with Armenia.
Aliyev’s unilateral declaration of a draft peace agreement was a calculated gamble to capture U.S. attention rather than a genuine step toward peace with Armenia. This strategy backfired, exposing Azerbaijan’s bad faith engagement, with Washington preferring the narrative of its strategic partner Armenia.
Ilham Aliyev considers the new regional balance of power his greatest geopolitical success and the preservation of this power disparity with Armenia his highest priority. As Armenia rearms and seeks to develop deterrence capacity, Aliyev deems this a threat to his grand strategy, thus heightening the probability of strategic strikes against Armenia.
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.
Despite the impossible security and geopolitical environment, the continuing sense of fragility and uncertainty, Armenia has made significant strides since the Velvet Revolution. However, if it is to succeed, it must transcend the politics of negation and fulfill the promise of an open future.
Looking at the emerging contours of the Trump Doctrine and its implications for the South Caucasus, Nerses Kopalyan examines competing policy orientations within Trump's incoming administration and how these will shape U.S. engagement with Armenia amid broader global and geopolitical priorities.
Armenia faces distinct security threats from Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia, with Russia posing the most complex and severe challenge through cyber operations. This month's security briefing explores the concept of subversion as a tenable risk-mitigation strategy against these threats.
When surrounded by aggressive neighbors, smaller democratic states evolve by integrating their social and governmental structures into a comprehensive security system, bolstering their resilience. This panel, which includes representatives from the business community, IT sector, civil society and academia looks at the mechanisms through which societal structures can be mobilized and harnessed to increase resiliency both during times of peace and amid security threats.
EVN Report’s mission is to empower Armenia, inspire the diaspora and inform the world through sound, credible and fact-based reporting and commentary. Our goal is to increase public trust in the media. EVN Report is the media arm of EVN News Foundation registered in the Republic of Armenia in 2017.
