Dr. Mikayel Zolyan
25 January 2016
Timed with the fifth anniversary of the revolution in Egypt, a watershed event in what became known as the “Arab Sping,” RSC Analyst Dr. Mikayel Zolyan assesses the implications for the post-Soviet space.
RSC Blog
The RSC BLOG offers a new series of informal publications on various issues of relevance, in both English and Armenian.
Unlike our peer-reviewed publications, RSC Blog entries are shorter, less academic and more opinion-oriented, aimed at offering a “rapid response” analytical assessment of timely events and developments.
Featured
Ian McGinnity
25 May 2015
Nuclear energy is vital to Armenian energy security. Landlocked and without endemic natural gas or oil resources, Armenia relies on Metsamor nuclear power plant, a Russian-built VVER 440 reactor, for approximately a third of its electricity generation. The scheduled decommissioning of Metsamor in 2026 presents a substantial problem to Armenian energy independence, requiring a serious discussion about Armenia’s long-term energy security. The Armenian government has made the construction of a new nuclear power plant a primary energy and security priority.
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Haykak Arshamyan, Satenik Baghdasaryan and Anush Ghazaryan
25 April 2015
Among the series of events conducted in different parts of the world, the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial was also marked in Istanbul, Turkey with the joint efforts of such organizations as European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM), DurDe Turkish platform and AGBU Europe. The series of events entitled “Let’s commemorate the Armenian Genocide in Turkey!” brought together young people from Armenia, Turkey and all over Europe. A US-based Armenian Project 2015 Movement also joined the commemoration events. Three RSC staff members, including Satenik Baghdasaryan, Anush Ghazaryan and Haykak Arshamyan represented the RSC in this event.
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Ian McGinnity
1 April 2015
During the dark days of severe energy crisis in Armenia in the 1990s, an anecdote spread throughout the Armenian public:
-Did you hear that the Minister of Energy has now asked to be called the Minister of the Navy?
-No! Why? Armenia doesn’t have a navy!
-Yes, but Armenia doesn’t have energy either!
.ARMENIAN POLITICS IN THE WAKE OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE “PROSPEROUS ARMENIA PARTY”
Dr. Mikayel Zolyan
17 March 2015
The effective destruction of Armenia’s second largest party, the Prosperous Armenia party, was probably the most important development’s in Armenia’s political landscape for quite some time. [i]
Even though it went largely went unnoticed by the outside world, this event, especially within the larger geopolitical context of Armenia’s turn towards the Eurasian integration project, may be watershed: it may become the beginning of an authoritarian turn in Armenia’s politics.
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