In a report by Balzhan Samigullina for Kazakhstan’s Silk Way TV news, RSC Director Richard Giragosian provided analytical commentary assessing Azerbaijan’s strategic ambitions in Central Asia.  The segment, entitled “Move to Central Asia: Azerbaijan's expanding geopolitical footprint,” aired on 17 August.

14-16 August 2024

In the latest in our regular series of monthly analytical briefings, the Regional Studies Center (RSC) convened a briefing on 14 August to assess recent developments in Armenia and the wider South Caucasus region.  The briefing offered an assessment of recent developments in Armenia and the South Caucasus region, with a specific focus on the state of current Armenian-Azerbaijani diplomatic negotiations, the outlook for Armenia-Turkey “normalization,” and a wider focus on the policy of “diversification” of Armenian Foreign policy.  The briefing by RSC Director Richard Giragosian also reviewed recent developments in domestic politics in the country, including the recent end of opposition protests and the fallacy of Azerbaijan’s demand to amend the Armenian constitution.

In a report in the German media, Silvia Stöber cited RSC Director Richard Giragosian in her 15 August article, “Armenien sucht neue Partner. Russlands Nachbarn wenden sich ab” (“Armenia is looking for new partners. Russia's neighbors are turning away”) for the German public broadcaster ARD’s Tagesschau TV news program.

Since coming to power in 2018, one of the central objectives of the government of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been to implement a sweeping and ambitious campaign targeting crime and corruption. Yet looking back at the record over the past six years reveals a mixed record. RSC Director Richard Giragosian offered a general assessment, published by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime on 30 July 2024: “Armenia’s mixed - bag reformism. Despite considerable progress, challenges remain in Armenia's fight against organized crime and corruption.”

https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/armenia-organized-crime-corruption-ocindex/

10-12 July 2024

As part of our regular series of monthly briefings, the Regional Studies Center (RSC) convened a briefing on 10 July to assess recent developments in Armenia and the wider South Caucasus region.  The Austrian, Canadian, Swedish and Swiss ambassadors attended, along with diplomatic staff from the Embassies of Germany, Poland, Romania, the European Union Delegation to Armenia, officials from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Council of Europe, and several prominent local Armenian experts and analysts.