Tag: political

Baku’s oil economy is not sustainable, as diminishing revenues in the long-term increase the probability of domestic instability in Azerbaijan, potentially triggering militarized interstate disputes.

Almost all systemic and structural political and military weaknesses of Armenia share a fundamental root cause: the chronic absence of a culture and tradition of Statehood, both in the mindset of the political leadership and the general public.

The relationship between Armenians and “the political” (Le politique) embodies a dialectic of the village and of the Polity; more precisely, the unavoidable but asphyxiating spirit of the village pitted against the indispensable yet evanescent Polity.

Following months of protests, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced his formal resignation, triggering the process that is expected to lead to an early parliamentary election in June 2021. He will remain acting PM until then.

Azerbaijan and Turkey are highly incentivized to make the Meghri corridor a reality as soon as possible. For Azerbaijan it’s to have a direct link with its exclave of Nakhijevan. For Turkey, it opens up a direct connection with Azerbaijan and the Turkic world beyond.

Will the formation of a Truth Commission on the 2020 Artsakh War make it possible to rectify persistent and systemic errors that led to such military and geopolitical failures?

Following Armenia’s major military defeat in Artsakh, many people in the country, including a number of political forces, are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Such a move could trigger a number of different scenarios.

Even in Lebanon’s greatest time of need, officials corrupt democracy to entrench themselves in power rather than cater to the needs of the people.

Several political parties in Armenia are members of officially registered European political parties in the European Parliament. This affiliation offers an opportunity to deepen international cooperation and conduct parliamentary diplomacy.

A summary of an analysis assessing the performance of Armenia’s current electoral system, focusing on regional representation and discussing the unsuccessful proposal to abandon district-based open lists in 2018 and introducing a new compromise.

This analysis by Harout Manougian assesses the performance of Armenia’s current electoral system in a number of areas, focusing on regional representation. It discusses the unsuccessful proposal to abandon district-based open lists in 2018 and introduces a new compromise between that proposal and the status quo.

EVN Report takes a comprehensive look back on the events that shaped 2019, from high profile criminal cases to foreign relations.

Protests have gripped Georgia for the last week following a vote against promised constitutional amendments that would have changed the country’s electoral system.

Eight ethnic Armenians were elected to the First Constituent Assembly of Georgia in 1918. Four were members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the others from the Georgian Social Democratic Party. This article explores their lives and political activities.

Can the popularity of the National Security Service be sustained after the dismissal of Artur Vanetsyan? It can, but only through one mechanism: rigid institutionalization and the complete alleviation of the personalization of politics in Armenia.

After coming to power following the Velvet Revolution, acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made references on several occasions about direct democracy, saying that the highest power belongs directly to the people. What is direct democracy and can it be applied in Armenia?

Was there just cause for the Velvet Revolution on substantive or procedural grounds? Dr. Simon Clarke applies a number of principles to the events that took place in Armenia earlier this year to determine whether the revolution was justified.

With snap parliamentary elections just a month away, there is a historic opportunity to set the foundations for a democratic state. While fair and free elections are critically important, they are only a first step. Armenia’s democratization must include making human rights the cornerstone and main guiding framework for policy making.

Following the Velvet Revolution, Armenian society is faced with the challenge of reassessing its old values and creating a new value system and group identity, leaving the space open for manipulation and propaganda. Anna Pambukhchyan looks at the values and ideas often propagated as opinion-making mechanisms.

Following the Velvet Revolution and the ensuing political instability, it seems residents in Armenia will be heading to the polls in snap parliamentary elections in December. The issue of the formation of a constructive political opposition has been part of the public discourse over the past several months.

With snap parliamentary elections around the corner and if all indicators hold true, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civic Contract party remains poised to sweep the vote. The question that the prime minister will have to consider is whether he wants to rule or govern.

Professor Don Fuller examines how post-Soviet states have had difficulty in breaking normative behavior originating in Soviet times and how corruption is manifested in anti-democratic decision-making practices. He writes that Armenia’s new revolutionary government will be watched for evidence of competent innovation and justice.

The dramatic events of October 2, highlights the fundamental political paradox in Armenia – a Prime Minister with no parliamentary majority governs the executive branch in a parliamentary republic – and we experienced both sides “flexing their muscles” to demonstrate their respective powers, Raffi Kassarjian writes.

Dr. Nerses Kopalyan writes that the municipal election was not about Yerevan, the Council of Elders, or the Mayor: it was about reifying Pashinyan’s dominance of the Armenian political universe.

After his many years working in Brussels and trying to counter the effects of Azerbaijan’s Caviar Diplomacy, Bedo Demirdjian writes about his anger and frustration at how many European politicians received money from Azerbaijani authorities in a scheme being dubbed the Azerbaijani Laundromat.

A sharp departure from the confinements of Soviet era filmmakers where any production had to be commissioned by the state and would remain under strict supervision, a 2003 law on mass media, forbids censorship in the Republic of Armenia. But in post-Soviet Armenia censorship has time and again found ways of meddling with cinema.

In this first piece for EVN Report, Vicken Cheterian examines how Armenia-Diaspora relations will be impacted by dramatic changes in the country’s political landscape following the “Velvet Revolution” and whether it will be possible to revolutionize those relations.

Policies of previous administrations were not shaped by ideology, but rather, by a drive to consolidate illegitimate power through patronalistic politics. Nerses Kopalyan argues that the political ideology of Nikol Pahsinyan’s new government is aggressive centrism.

Political analyst Armen Grigoryan writes that negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the Artsakh conflict have hit a wall and resulted in escalations on the frontline bolstering Azerbaijan's inclination towards a military solution to the conflict.

The traditional cautionary question is often heard in Armenia: “How is it possible, in this state of war, to entrust governance to inexperienced people?” Suren Manukyan looks at the question of youth over the four waves of Armenia’s political elite starting from the Karabakh Movement.

Following a series of extraordinary events in Armenia that has come to be coined as the “Velvet Revolution,” it is now time to put emotions aside and begin the process of evaluating those events objectively and by applying several academic disciplines, writes Vahram Ter-Matevosyan.

The biographies of the new interim cabinet formed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and other appointments.

Armenia is facing its greatest challenge since independence. Nikol Pashinyan’s Velvet Revolution has left the ruling Republican Party facing a crisis of legitimacy. Nerses Kopalyan writes, “Pashinyan is not seeking to usurp the Constitutional legitimacy of Parliament, but rather, force the majority in Parliament to conform to the will of the popular movement.”

One of the distinctive characteristics of the Karabakh Movement was that in less than three years, it drastically changed how the Soviet value system was perceived. The visual and verbal manifestation of this was evident through the transformation of the language and texts of the posters and signs used during the Movement.

Demonstrators led by Nikol Pashinyan, leader of the Civil Contract party, have shut down a major square in Yerevan, paralyzing the downtown core of the capital to protest former President Serzh Sargsyan’s candidacy for the office of prime minister.

In the last 100 years, there have been hierarchies of identity and canonical approaches to definitions of "Armenian," especially as articulated, rationalized and promoted by elites, institutions and political parties in the Diaspora and in Armenia. This essay is not a study of identity per se, but about one of the aspects of identity – the “Armenian” bit of it.

City councillor Marina Khachatryan was attacked by a group of male colleagues when she attempted to hand a glass jar of raw sewage to Mayor Taron Margaryan to highlight the issue of seeping sewage in the Nubarashen district of the capital city.

Iran was rocked by a number of protests last week that caught many by surprise. Loosineh Markarian writes that while many have been focused on the interrelation of the elite and the protestors, recent developments in inter-elite relations could be the significant factor informing the recent outburst.

The new Armenia-EU agreement can be considered a milestone in the history of modern Armenia and in Armenia-EU relations but how does it change the context of Armenia-Russia relations? And what does it mean for Armenia- from the future of the Nuclear Power Plant to rebranding the Armenian cognac?

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.

What is the art of anti-corruption? A year-long campaign sought to raise awareness on the effects of corruption on Armenian society. The “Art of (anti) Corruption” organized by Impact Hub Yerevan and supported by the EU Delegation to Armenia is a poster art exhibition and EVN Report is featuring a selection of the works on display.

There is little doubt that in the collective consciousness of the Armenian nation, the family is one of the most important institutions. But how does this notion manifest itself in a modern societal setting, impact gender roles and individual decision-making? Maria Titizian takes a look at the findings of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation's Independence Generation Youth Study - 2016.

In this new essay for EVN Report, Varak Ketsemanian argues that one of the reasons Armenians have failed to come up with a palatable “national brand” lies in the absence of common political premises (beyond the Genocide and Artsakh) upon which collaborative platforms may be created in the Diaspora, but more importantly, in the Republic of Armenia.

Comedian and co-founder of ArmComedy Sergey Sargsyan offers some interesting advice about what to do when confronted with hateful comments on social media.

A valuable insight into how the Armenian youth perceive themselves and the world around them. Jenny Paturyan explores the political stance of youth in Armenia based on the finding of a study commissioned by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, “Independence Generation Youth Study 2016 - Armenia”.

The Yerevan City elections, held on Sunday, May 14, produced more questions than answers as the ruling Republican Party of Armenia claimed a decisive victory with over 70 percent of the vote. Political consultant Arin Keshishian writes about his observations of the municipal elections for EVN Report.

"Why Nations Fail" and why is Armenia's economy failing - Armen Grigoryan's case-study of Acemoglu's and Robinson's economic theories and their implications in Armenia's economy and politics.

Political pundits will analyze the April 2 Parliamentary Elections for weeks and months to come. The results, however, were not surprising. What are the programs and policies that need to be implemented to prepare the country for the next election cycle?

Writer and photojournalist Simone Zoppellaro writes that the moral and political responsibility of a conflict doesn’t rest solely on the actors, or those who arm them. It rests also on the nations that would have the power to intervene and stop the hostilities but prefer to keep themselves detached or indifferent.

After more than 25 years of independence, what can the role of the Armenian Republic be in shaping a discourse that would speak of Armenia in terms of a “homeland” and a genuine state?