The Aftermath of the “Velvet Revolution”: Armenia Between Domestic Change and Foreign Policy Continuity Cover Image

The Aftermath of the “Velvet Revolution”: Armenia Between Domestic Change and Foreign Policy Continuity
The Aftermath of the “Velvet Revolution”: Armenia Between Domestic Change and Foreign Policy Continuity

Author(s): Aram Terzyan
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, Geopolitics, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Center for Studies in European Integration, Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova
Keywords: “Velvet Revolution”; Armenia; Russia; Eurasian Integration; authoritarian resistance; European Union; CEPA; Nagorno Karabakh conflict;

Summary/Abstract: This article focuses on the aftermath of the 2018 “Velvet Revolution” in Armenia by investigating the relationship between domestic change and foreign policy. It highlights the challenges of foreign policy breakthroughs, leading to a Russian-European balance, as well as to breaking the logjam in the troubled neighborhood. It contends that domestic change in Armenia has not produced trickle-down effects on its broader foreign policy landscape. Yet, the study does not fall prey to the reductionism of structural constraints and offers a more dynamic structure - agency interplay approach to accounting for change - continuity relationship in post-revolution Armenian politics. The case study of Armenia contributes to a better understanding of the interplay between domestic politics and foreign policy in small states in the contested neighbourhood between assertive Russia and constrained European Union (EU).

  • Issue Year: 5/2019
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 24-43
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: English