By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

Armenia and Georgia have a long history of relations. In more recent times both republics were parts of the Soviet Union, and after the collapse of the latter the two states have found themselves involved in the regional geopolitics of the South Caucasus. Each of them chose its own foreign policy priorities based upon relevant perceptions of vital national interests. Armenia, being under joint Azerbaijani – Turkish pressure due to the Karabakh conflict and with memories of 1915 Armenian Genocide still fresh has no alternative but to establish political-military alliance with Russia. Georgia, with historical grievances over Russia’s role in demolishing Georgian independent statehood and still fresh memories of April 1989 tragic events in downtown Tbilisi, chose the path towards Euro-Atlantic integration. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 03.09.2019  |  External Relations
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By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

Relations with the United States are of significant importance for Armenia. Despite the relative decline in the US position as the only world super power, Washington still remains the number one global power in the world. The US is a Minsk Group Co-chair country, actively involved in the Karabakh conflict settlement process, and it exerts great influence in the neighborhood of Armenia. America is also home for the most influential part of Armenian Diaspora, which may play a key role in bringing desperately needed investments into the Armenian economy. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 22.08.2019  |  External Relations
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By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

Iran is one of the key geopolitical actors of the Middle East. Despite the current “diplomatic isolation and maximum economic pressure” campaign launched by the US President Trump Administration, Iran retains its capabilities of making serious impact on regional geopolitics. It exerts political and economic influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen through various state and non-state actors and has a vast toolbox of asymmetric methods of political, economic and military struggle. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 16.08.2019  |  External Relations
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By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

In recent years, Russia – Turkey relations have gone through tremendous transformations. In November 2015, they entered the phase of acute crisis with no hope of quick improvements. However, in summer 2016 the process of reconciliation was launched, which resulted in bringing an unprecedented level of cooperation in economy and in the military-technical sphere. What are the main factors for such change and what does the current Russia – Turkey partnership mean for the South Caucasus. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 26.07.2019  |  External Relations
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By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

A pivot towards the West is simply not in Armenia’s best interest.
Immediately after the “Velvet Revolution” in Armenia during the spring of 2018, the main narrative regarding possible developments in Armenian and Russian relations focused on negative expectations. Conventional wisdom brought plenty of reasons for such a mood. Russian authorities do not like leaders who come to power through street demonstrations, and Russia mainly exerts power in its neighbourhood through a network of corrupt and oligarchic elites. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 12.07.2019  |  External Relations
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By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

The expert community dealing with international relations and security studies is involved in active debates regarding the current phase and future developments of the international security architecture. The prevailing topic is the end of United States (US) unipolar hegemony and establishment of more multi-polar, but an unstable and more complicated world with less respect towards the international laws and growing emphasis on coercive policy including threats and use of military force, economic sanctions and hybrid tactics. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 13.06.2019  |  External Relations
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By Nika Chitadze, PhD, Director, Center for International Studies, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi

As good news is less scandalous, it is rarely spread. However, it is necessary to point out that the percentage of people, who live in poverty, reached a historic minimum in 2018. Unfortunately, there was no appropriate reaction of the international community regarding this development. Over the last 30 years, the number of people who live in poverty has decreased by 1 billion. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 05.06.2019  |  External Relations
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By Eduard Abrahamyan, Wider Black Sea & Central Asia regional security analyst

While the standoff between adversaries rages on, recent weeks saw an intensified communication between American and Russian high-level officials over the wide array of issues on which Moscow and Washington have contrasting views. On May 14, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and later with President Vladimir Putin in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 03.06.2019  |  External Relations
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By Fuad Shahbazov, Baku-based independent regional security and defence analyst

On 5th April of 2019, a meeting of the railway authorities of Kazakhstan, China, Iran, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan took place in Almaty dedicated to advancing cargo traffic along the North-South Transit Corridor. In fact, the participation of Uzbekistan in the project will shorten the route of goods from China to Iran and forward. Being a part of the ambitious North-South Transit Corridor, the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Iran railway can shape the geopolitics of Central Asia. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 14.05.2019  |  External Relations
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By Nika Chitadze, PhD, Director, Center for International Studies, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi

Environmental resources such as water and air have always been necessary for human life and human activities. For the majority of human history, the environment did, however, not represent a problem for mankind and its sustainable development. The environment and the natural resources satisfied the needs of the people, without causing damage to the next generations. In the second half of the 20th century, the topic of environmental protection has entered the political agenda, because humanity’s economic activities have raised environmental pollution to a level that threatens various species and even the ecosystem as a whole. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 09.05.2019  |  External Relations
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