Voices

Alliances are being formed between Armenian political parties ahead of the 20 June parliamentary elections. Whilst they all claim to want to oust the current prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, they are all also busy competing against each other. Despite this, the next Armenian government is likely to be a coalition government, argues Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed for commonspace.eu

The recent signing of a strategic partnership with Iran shows that China is now a significant player in the geopolitics of the wider Middle East. This has implications for the South Caucasus and particularly Armenia, writes Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed

Today is Georgian Language Day – an important day for the Georgian people. In this op-ed for commonspace.eu, Erekle Koplatadze gives a brief history of the Georgian language and explains why this day carries such significance in Georgia.

With Armenia's snap parliamentary elections coming up in June, a lot of actors are looking at the country's domestic politics, but no one more closely than Moscow. In this op-ed, originally published on KarabakhSpace.eu, Benyamin Poghosyan looks at what the presence of the former Armenian president, Robert Kocharyan, means for Pashinyan and Armenian-Russian relations.

Former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan has emerged as the strongest challenger to prime minister Nikol Pashinyan in Armenian’s forthcoming parliamentary elections. However, as Benyamin Poghosyan argues in this op-ed, most voters are simply motivated by their hate of one or the other.

Armenia appears heading for snap parliamentary elections on 20 June, but hopes that the poll may resolve the current gridlock in the Armenian political arena may be premature. Benyamin Poghosyan argues in this op-ed that for Armenia things may get worse before they get better.

Iranian hardliners are mostly rational political actors who are not ready to sacrifice Iran's security, and their own power, for the sake of ideological animosity towards the US or Israel, argues Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed. Even if a hardliner wins next June’s presidential election in Iran compromise with the US on the nuclear file is not only possible, but probable. This will be in the interest of both the US and Iran, as well as the entire Middle East region.

On 21 January this year, the European Court of Human Rights found Russia responsible for a number of major human rights violations during the 2008 war against Georgia. In this opinion piece, Erekle Koplatadze gives his perspective on what this decision means.

"The US needs Turkey to counter Russia in the Black Sea region, the Middle East, and the South Caucasus. Turkey can also be useful in the US strategy to contain China", argues Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed. However given the number of problems between the two countries US-Turkey relations may normalise, but they will continue to develop in the cooperation/competition framework, he argues.

The State’s lack of legitimacy in Yemen over many decades created a vacuum which has been exploited by key socio-political groups that felt marginalised, resulting in the erosion of the country’s sovereignty. In this op-ed Noman Ahmed argues that addressing this issue is key for any future peace process to succeed.

Currently Yerevan has almost no leverages to influence future developments around Nagorno Karabakh, argues Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed. In 2021, Armenia has no choice but to wait and watch the ups and downs in Russia – Turkey – Azerbaijan relations.

Six world leaders have have published a joint op-ed in which they called for a global conversation on multilateralism. The leaders said in the article published in several languages in media outlets across the world that there was an "opportunity to rebuild consensus for an international order based on multilateralism and the rule of law through efficient cooperation, solidarity and coordination." The signatories of the appeal are French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Senegalese President Macky Sall, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel.