Armenia's Velvet Voice and Vision in an Uncertain World (3.11.21)

In 2018, Armenia’s decades-long protest activity culminated in its Velvet revolution – a democratic breakthrough in an authoritarian neighborhood. This was expressed at a time of crisis within the rules-based international order and global democratic recession. This panel builds around the newly published Armenia’s Velvet Revolution: Authoritarian Decline and Civil Resistance in a Multipolar World Order (I. B. Tauris 2020) to explore the challenges and opportunities of Armenia’s nascent democracy within a geopolitically reshuffled region – post-war.

The panelists will argue that democratic consolidation remains a prerequisite for the Armenian state to navigate the new political, economic, and geostrategic challenges of the 21st century to its advantage. Domestically, while the political theatre in the country remains more stable than meets the eye, continuous legal and institutional reforms remain critical to lock in the economic and political gains and potential from the Velvet. Drawing from social science data on global patterns of peace, security provision, and democratic consolidation, the panelists will argue that deepening democracy is a sure way to deliver economic and security dividends for the state.

The panel will conclude with a discussion on the politics in Nagorno-Karabakh, in the conditions of its unrecognized political status and emergent Russian patronage after the war. Comparative data from other unrecognized states around the world will be integrated to enrich the discussion.
Ann Ohanyan, Richard B. Finnegan Distinguished Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Stonehill College

Nerses Kopalyan, Assistant professor-in-residence of Political Science at University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Kevork Oskanian, Lecturer in Political Science and International Studies at University of Birmingham

Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Professor of Politics in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University

This event is presented by UCI Center for Armenian Studies.