By Yeghia TASHJIAN, Beirut-based regional analyst and researcher, columnist, "The Armenian Weekly”
Like other regional powers, Russia has taken major steps to advance its geopolitical interests in the Levant. With the goals of expanding its influence and control the vast energy resources in the region. Although it only has a naval military base in Tartus (Syria) and no borders on the Mediterranean Sea, Russia has managed to exert its influence around nearby countries, including Lebanon. The perception of Lebanon as part of its Syrian stake encourages Moscow to strive to capitalize on its influence in the region after intervening in the Syrian conflict. In the last few years, Russia started playing a larger role in Lebanon following the growing civil unrest in Syria and the defeat of ISIS. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 04.09.2021
| External Relations
By Benyamin POGHOSYAN, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies
The 2020 Karabakh war has significantly impacted the regional dynamics in the South Caucasus. Experts and pundits have not come yet to a unified approach regarding the reasons and implications of the war. However, many agree that the primary beneficiaries of the war were Russia and Turkey. Kremlin has reached perhaps its main goal in Karabakh – to put Russian boots on the ground, while it has also significantly increased its military presence in Armenia. Turkey has cemented its presence in Azerbaijan as now a large part of Azerbaijani society believes that without Turkey’s overt support and involvement, Baku could not win the war. Turkey also is a part of the Joint Monitoring Centre operating in the Aghdam region of Azerbaijan, though Turkey hoped to have more military involvement in the post-war Karabakh. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 03.09.2021
| External Relations
By Yeghia TASHJIAN, Beirut-based regional analyst and researcher, columnist, "The Armenian Weekly”
Back in July, Rich Outzen published a policy paper “Deals, Drones and National Will: The New Era in Turkish Power Projection” in the Washington Institute for Near East Policy highlighting the new strategy of the Turkish Armed Forces, the development of the arms industry and how Ankara is deploying hard power in the region. According to Outzen, the integration of drones, electronic warfare, manoeuvre and precision strike employed by Turkey across technologies and domains (manned/unmanned and ground/air/naval) have been characterized as a new phase of a revolution in military affairs (RMA). An RMA is a hypothesis in military theory about the future of warfare, often connected to technological and organizational recommendations for radical military reform. An RMA occurs when new tactics, technologies and operational concepts enable dramatic increases in ineffectiveness to provide early innovators a marked advantage and force others to adopt the same methods. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 12.08.2021
| Security
By Alan Whitehorn, Professor Emeritus in Political Science, The Royal Military College of Canada
Armenia is at yet another critical time. The war losses were substantial and impacted greatly. Violent Azerbaijani-Armenian border incidents continue, with property damage, military personnel injuries and deaths. The risks ahead are significant. Accordingly, it is crucial to assess the geopolitical situation that confronts Armenia, commencing first with key problems and challenges and then exploring some opportunities.
Amongst the pressing issues is the fact that demographically Armenia has far less manpower than Azerbaijan, even if women were conscripted too. Armenia’s population has been declining significantly due to outmigration and this pattern has been accelerating after the recent Karabakh war and various phases of the Covid pandemic. An army historically based on conscription needs to address its critical declining population base. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 11.08.2021
| Security
By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies Todd Fabacher, Co-Founder, Distrikt Foundation, Gyumri
Countries, just like people, will experience the five stages of grief after a significant loss. 2020 was a challenging year for all nations. COVID – 19 pandemic and economic downturn have negatively impacted almost everyone. It was an exceptionally difficult year for Armenia because, besides the pandemic, defeat in the war launched by Azerbaijan against the unrecognized Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic in autumn 2020 resulted in significant material and human losses. In the first half of 2021, Armenia grasped domestic political instability, triggering an early parliamentary election in June 2021. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 11.08.2021
| Security
By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies
The EU has thrown Armenia an economic lifeline, but Yerevan has a stark choice ahead: either to use its economic resources to modernise its military and ensure that the Armenian population left in Karabakh is protected, or to create conditions for the Armenians in Karabakh to gradually settle in Armenia.
The EU has always perceived the South Caucasus as a neighbouring area between Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. The South Caucasus was never part of the EU's vital interests, but the Europeans were not indifferent to the region's fate. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the EU signed Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with South Caucasus Republics, and later included the region into the European Neighbourhood policy. The next phase in EU-South Caucasus relations was the launch of the Eastern Partnership initiative and the inclusion of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the program. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 27.07.2021
| External Relations
By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies
Armenia always supported the idea of restoring communications and developing economic relations with Azerbaijan as a tangible way of confidence building. However Azerbaijan has to give up its inflammatory and disruptive rhetoric about the "Zangezur Corridor", and its thinly veiled threats to take over the Syunik province from Armenia.
The 10 November 2020 tripartite statement signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia ended the war in Nagorno Karabakh, but evidently, did not bring peace to the region. A range of complex issues remain to be settled – the future of Nagorno Karabakh, relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the security dynamics of the broader region. Given the Russian military presence in Karabakh, the region's future now mostly depends on the Kremlin, and neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan has much room for manoeuvre here. The status of Karabakh will remain a topic in bilateral Russia–Azerbaijan and Russia–Armenia discussions, but Moscow will do whatever it thinks it is necessary to do. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 19.07.2021
| External Relations
By Lilit Galstyan, Senior Research Fellow, Academy of Political Studies, Yerevan
The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union have ushered in hopes of humanity's happy and harmonious future. The ideas such as "End of history" became very popular both within academic circles and with policymakers. There was a widespread belief that the entire planet would live under liberal democracy, and inter-state conflicts will become bad memories from history. However, the beginning of the XXI century crushed these hopes. Russia - West relations started to deteriorate after the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, while the 2014 Crimean crisis brought bilateral relations to the lowest point since the end of the Cold War. Meanwhile, the astonishing Chinese economic growth and the emergence of the multi-million middle class did not bring about political changes in China. READ MORE
EGF Editor |
Опубликовано на EGF: 19.07.2021
| External Relations
Dr. Marat Terterov, Co-founder of the EGF, and Dr. George Vlad Niculescu, Head of Research, contributed to a newly published volume on: “Building Resilience against Human Security Threats and Risks: From Best Practices to Strategies” The volume was produced by the National Defence Academy of Austria in collaboration with the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes. It brought up multi-disciplinary arguments explaining how education fostered resilience by equipping people with the knowledge and skills to navigate risks and adapt to new challenges. This Handbook addressed risks and threats associated with climate change, energy, demographic, food, water, medical and financial security, human trafficking, cyber security, hybrid threats, psychological manipulation, violence in the digital domain, ethnic violence in unresolved conflicts, economic fragmentation, and trade disruptions in the South Caucasus and beyond. Regional cooperation is essential for building resilience against human security risks and threats, since effectively addressing many of them, including conflicts, environmental crises, pandemics, and transnational crime, require collective action that transcends national borders. READ MORE
EGF Affiliated Expert Yeghia TASHJIAN has recently co-authored a Policy Brief on “Lebanon’s Foreign Policy: Challenges and Recommendations”. The Brief called for a shift toward positive neutrality and pro-active diplomacy, with concrete reforms to strengthen Lebanon’s diplomatic role and global standing. The authors wondered in a conclusive way: “Can Lebanon reclaim its place on the international stage?” READ MORE
EGF Affiliated Expert, Dr. Shanthie Mariet D’SOUZA has contributed a new opinion piece to “The Hindu” on: “India’s Policy Inertia in Afghanistan” READ MORE (under paywall)
EGF Affiliated Expert Benyamin POGHOSYAN appeared in a new episode of the GROONG Podcast where he discussed: the current status in the Ukraine war, latest developments in US-Russia relations; Armenian domestic politics; Armenia-Azerbaijan border demarcation and the issue of enclaves; issues in recent Armenia-Azerbaijan civil society dialogue in Yerevan. WATCH HERE
Between 07-10 November 2024, Dr Marat TERTEROV and Dr George Vlad NICULESCU participated in the 28th workshop of the Regional Stability in the South Caucasus Study Group of the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes on “Connectivity Risks and Opportunities in the South Caucasus”, held in Reichenau a/d Rax (Austria). Please click here for the programme and agenda outline, here for George’s speaking points, here for the policy recommendations, and here for the proceedings of the workshop
Between 10-13 April 2025, Dr George Vlad NICULESCU participated in the 29th workshop of the Regional Stability in the South Caucasus Study Group of the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes on “Emerging Technologies in Conflict Prevention: Leveraging Technology for Peacebuilding in the South Caucasus”, held in Istanbul (Turkey). Please click here for the programme and agenda outline, and here for George’s speaking points.
On June 3, 2025, Dr. George Vlad Niculescu gave a short brief on the outcomes and potential implications of Romania’s 2025 presidential elections to the “Neighbourhoods” Working Group of the Institute of European Studies de l’Université UCLouvain, site de Saint-Louis-Brussels. Read here his briefing.
By Yeghia TASHJIAN, Beirut-based regional analyst and researcher, columnist, "The Armenian Weekly”
By Benyamin POGHOSYAN, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies
By Alan Whitehorn, Professor Emeritus in Political Science, The Royal Military College of Canada
By Lilit Galstyan, Senior Research Fellow, Academy of Political Studies, Yerevan