Russa’s role in 2020 war and Armenia’s search for new security architecture
Research Purpose
The objective of the research is to expand the knowledge and fill the gap in the scientific and professional literature on Russia’s role in and influence on the geopolitics of the South Caucasus. Starting with events in 2014, the effects of the power politics in this corner of the post-Soviet space will be examined.
Driven by this purpose, this project will investigate the factors that made the strategic defeat of Armenia in the 2020 Second Karabakh war—as Russia’s only politico-military ally—permissible for policymakers in the Kremlin. Continuity and change in in Russia’s regional strategic interests will be identified. Next, the project will explore the particularities and nuances behind the Azerbaijan’s decision to launch a war against Armenia. Analysis will consider the influence of Azerbaijan’s closest strategic partners in the region, Russia and Turkey, on Baku’s intention to dramatically shift the power configuration that persisted in the South Caucasus since 1994.
Equally important, the project will share and make public the knowledge production process of this undertaking and its results, conceptualizations and inferences during academic debate and professional discourse through a set of deliverables. This includes conference presentation, peer-reviewed publication, and public appearances. To achieve these goals, selected top foreign policy officials will serve as primary sources. The in-depth appraisal of data gathered from interviews will play a foundational role in the research.
Second, the findings of the academic research shall be used to investigate and analyze diplomatic failures of the Armenian government between 2010 and 2020.
Third, the findings will inform the production of articles in foreign policy and Armenian media outlet that highlights risks from the Russo-Azeri partnership.
Our Researcher
Dr. Abrahamyan is a political scientist and teaching fellow at the University of Leicester (UK).
His field of study includes foreign and military strategies of small states, strategic adaptation and asymmetrical relationships. His geographic focus is Eurasia.
Abrahamyan earned his doctoral degree from the University of Leicester in 2022. In 2010, he received his Candidate of Science in Military History from the Academy of Science of the Republic of Armenia. He was awarded a Rumsfeld Fellowship as a visiting scholar at the Washington-based American Foreign Policy Council (2017).
Abrahamyan was a staff Assistant and Advisor to HE Armen Sarkissian, President of the Republic of Armenia on foreign affairs in 2019-2021. He was a Senior Associate Fellow at the Institute for Statecraft based in London, as well as a regular contributor to the IHS Markit (Jane’s Military Capabilities), The Jamestown Foundation, The National Interest, Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) and the Central Asia–Caucasus Institute.
He is a researcher with the Justice Armenia, Security Reform Research Project.
Next Step
To support Armenia’s search for a new security architecture and the completion of this critical and much-needed research, click here.
The total project cost—for all three elements—is $41,000.
Please email ara@justicearmenia.org with any questions.
The objective of the research is to expand the knowledge and fill the gap in the scientific and professional literature on Russia’s role in and influence on the geopolitics of the South Caucasus. Starting with events in 2014, the effects of the power politics in this corner of the post-Soviet space will be examined.
Driven by this purpose, this project will investigate the factors that made the strategic defeat of Armenia in the 2020 Second Karabakh war—as Russia’s only politico-military ally—permissible for policymakers in the Kremlin. Continuity and change in in Russia’s regional strategic interests will be identified. Next, the project will explore the particularities and nuances behind the Azerbaijan’s decision to launch a war against Armenia. Analysis will consider the influence of Azerbaijan’s closest strategic partners in the region, Russia and Turkey, on Baku’s intention to dramatically shift the power configuration that persisted in the South Caucasus since 1994.
Equally important, the project will share and make public the knowledge production process of this undertaking and its results, conceptualizations and inferences during academic debate and professional discourse through a set of deliverables. This includes conference presentation, peer-reviewed publication, and public appearances. To achieve these goals, selected top foreign policy officials will serve as primary sources. The in-depth appraisal of data gathered from interviews will play a foundational role in the research.
Second, the findings of the academic research shall be used to investigate and analyze diplomatic failures of the Armenian government between 2010 and 2020.
Third, the findings will inform the production of articles in foreign policy and Armenian media outlet that highlights risks from the Russo-Azeri partnership.
Our Researcher
Dr. Abrahamyan is a political scientist and teaching fellow at the University of Leicester (UK).
His field of study includes foreign and military strategies of small states, strategic adaptation and asymmetrical relationships. His geographic focus is Eurasia.
Abrahamyan earned his doctoral degree from the University of Leicester in 2022. In 2010, he received his Candidate of Science in Military History from the Academy of Science of the Republic of Armenia. He was awarded a Rumsfeld Fellowship as a visiting scholar at the Washington-based American Foreign Policy Council (2017).
Abrahamyan was a staff Assistant and Advisor to HE Armen Sarkissian, President of the Republic of Armenia on foreign affairs in 2019-2021. He was a Senior Associate Fellow at the Institute for Statecraft based in London, as well as a regular contributor to the IHS Markit (Jane’s Military Capabilities), The Jamestown Foundation, The National Interest, Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) and the Central Asia–Caucasus Institute.
He is a researcher with the Justice Armenia, Security Reform Research Project.
Next Step
To support Armenia’s search for a new security architecture and the completion of this critical and much-needed research, click here.
The total project cost—for all three elements—is $41,000.
Please email ara@justicearmenia.org with any questions.