Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan held a historic meeting on Thursday with his Hungarian counterpart, after which their two ministries issued a joint statement announcing their decision to restore full diplomatic relations. Just over 10 years ago, on August 31, 2012, then-President Serzh Sargsyan announced that Yerevan would suspend its relations with Budapest. But why exactly did Armenia cut off diplomatic relations with Hungary for a decade?
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Cultural Heritage at Risk in Nagorno-Karabakh
This month’s election of Azerbaijan to a senior position of the United Nations’ cultural body has raised concern regarding the fate of cultural monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh, given the organization’s responsibility to protect cultural heritage around the world. Following Azerbaijan’s forced displacement of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians last month, this additional development further increases the potential that Armenian cultural heritage, which notably includes the Amaras, Gandzasar, and Dadivank monasteries as well as the “We Are Our Mountains” statue, will be destroyed or appropriated. Amaras Monastery is one of the world’s oldest Christian monuments and is the site of the first […]
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How the Social Fabric Works: A Conversation With Nassim Nicholas
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a globally renowned thinker and philosopher best known for his “black swan theory,” visited Armenia last week. He sat down with CivilNet’s Eric Hacopian to talk about science, artificial intelligence, and current societal developments. Taleb is the author of several bestselling books, including: His insightful works delve into the realms of risk, probability, and resilience, offering profound perspectives on the complexities of life and the unpredictability of systems.
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Armenia Launches Its First Satellite
On December 1, Armenia’s first domestically made satellite “Hayasat-1” was launched by a SpaceX rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The project is a collaboration between Yerevan’s Bazoomq Space Research Laboratory and Armenia’s Center for Scientific Innovation and Education, and commissioned by Armenia’s Ministry of High Tech Industry. CSIE’s Technical Director of Space Programs Masis Gumrigyan gathered with supporters to watch the launch. Gumrigyan spoke about the challenges he and his team faced, and what this launch means for Armenia’s future in space.
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Insider Perspective on Armenia’s Military Transformation
In this episode, host Patrick Elliott interviews Regional Studies Center director Richard Giragossian. They discuss Giragossian’s analysis of ongoing military reforms in Armenia and structural weaknesses plaguing Azerbaijan that could undermine future military aggression. Insight is also provided into the dynamics shaping the strategic military environment and what it means for regional stability.
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Trade war fears grow as Armenian trucks pile up at
Hundreds of Armenian trucks remain stalled at a key border crossing between Georgia and Russia, prompting Yerevan to take the rare step of calling an emergency meeting of a Moscow-led trade bloc. A prolonged closure of the Upper Lars checkpoint would have disastrous effects for Armenia’s economy, experts have warned. Credits: Ruptly
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What will it take to have a landmine-free South Caucasus?
Benyamin Poghosyan is the Chairman of the Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies, an organization that has been working with the EU-supported Links Europe organization since 2019 to implement their annual Landmine Free South Caucasus campaigns. On November 30, acknowledged as the “day of solidarity with victims of landmines and their communities,” CivilNet spoke with Benyamin about the challenges the initiative faces, especially when it comes to the politicized nature of the landmine issue, which often overlooks the most affected communities.
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Thanksgiving and Mourning
By Skylar Yoder While thanksgiving is traditionally a North American holiday, I had the pleasure of celebrating it in Armenia this year. At CivilNet, several of my colleagues went out of their way to prepare a Thanksgiving feast for the office, which happened to coincide with my last day in Yerevan and a period of deep sorrow for Armenians everywhere. The meal itself was highly impressive, with us somehow collectively supplying in one day’s time: ten kilos of Turkey, rice pilaf, roasted vegetables, cranberry sauce, and even apple pie with vanilla ice cream. While this alone was an experience, what […]
