The Armenian Weekly March 2014 Magazine:
Armenia’s Foreign Policy in Focus
Some circumstances never change. Wedged between two empires for much of its long history, Armenia continues to navigate through the waves created by two gargantuan vessels—this time, Russia and the West.
Cover of the Armenian Weekly March 2014 magazine on Armenia’s foreign policy
On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin reclaimed Crimea as part of his country, giving rise to condemnations by the West and setting in motion policies towards the isolation of Russia. In a passionate address that encapsulated years of resentment and exasperation, Putin signaled to the world that a renewed, bolder Russia had emerged.
“If you press a spring too hard, it will recoil,” Putin said. “They cheated us again and again, made decisions behind our back… That’s the way it was with the expansion of NATO in the East, with the deployment of military infrastructure at our borders. They always told us the same thing: ‘Well, this doesn’t involve you.’”
With tensions flaring up, President Serge Sarkisian’s administration has erred on the side of the familiar, Putin’s new Russia. A day after Putin’s address, Sarkisian endorsed the move during a phone conversation with the Russian leader, saying he viewed the Crimean referendum as “yet another realization of peoples’ right to self-determination.”
When in early September 2013, Sarkisian announced Armenia’s intentions to join the Russian-led Customs Union, the decision came as a surprise to many. After ongoing talks with the European Union on the signing of the Association Agreement and a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA), Armenia did a 180-degree turn, to the disappointment of those who saw the EU partnership as a way to improve the country’s internal woes and shortcomings—from fighting rampant corruption to improving the country’s human rights record. On the flip side, however, is Russia’s military backing, especially if renewed violence erupts on the Azerbaijani front.
Armenia’s geopolitical circumstances are complex—jammed between two hostile neighbors (Turkey and Azerbaijan), with less than ideal relations with Georgia, and with neighboring Iran isolated and on the receiving end of sanctions imposed by the West. In that light, Russia appears as a guarantor of some form of survival. The question is, at what cost? Armenia, as the saying goes, stands between the devil and the deep blue sea.
In these turbulent times, it is necessary to take a hard look at Armenia’s foreign policy—from the protocols to the EU talks to, finally, the Customs Union. Here, we present eight articles—some opinion pieces and some analysis—that we hope will offer valuable perspectives on the country’s foreign policy.
Click on the titles below to view the articles:
Farewell to Complementarity: Armenia’s Foreign Policy at a crossroads
By Khatchik DerGhougassian
All Quiet on the Western Front? Another Look at the Armeno-Turkish Protocols, and Where We Stand Today
By Antranig Kasbarian
Reflections on the Killing of Junior Sergeant Armen L. Hovhannisyan
By Michael G. Mensoian
Serge Sarkisian’s Catalogue of Failures: A Brief Foreign Policy Survey
By Emil Sanamyan
Armenia’s Emerging New Foreign Policy
By Armen Sahakyan
Armenia-US Relations: Unfulfilled Promise
By Kate Nahapetian
Armenia-EU Relations: ‘What Shall We Do?’
By Armenak Minasyants
US-Armenia: Evolution of Bilateral Relations
By Samson Martirosyan