Roxanne Makasdjian, executive director of the Genocide Education Project (GenEd), joins CivilNet to discuss her organization’s mission to expand how U.S. schools teach genocide, including the Armenian Genocide. GenEd runs a fellowship program that not only brings American educators to Armenia every summer for workshops on teaching the Armenian Genocide, but also allows participants to experience the country of Armenia and its people. Roxanne explains the rewards and challenges of institution building and funding such an undertaking, how teaching of the Armenian Genocide has evolved, especially after official U.S. recognition of it, and how the program builds deeper connections for teachers with their subject matter, creating a passion that they can pass on to their own classrooms and communities.
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The Legal Case For Genocide In Karabakh
In this interview, Luis Moreno Ocampo, the first prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, delves into the complex legal landscape of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and international justice. Drawing from his extensive experience, Ocampo provides crucial insights into the application of these terms to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and elucidates the challenges in prosecuting such cases on the global stage. The conversation then shifts to Ocampo’s pivotal role in Argentina’s democratic transition, offering valuable lessons and perspectives that could inform Armenia’s own journey towards a more robust democracy.
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‘You are not alone’: Ex-ICC prosecutor Moreno Ocampo makes landmark
By Mark Dovich Luis Moreno Ocampo, the first chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, has urged Azerbaijan to release Armenians in its custody ahead of this year’s global climate summit, which the country will host later this year. “It is crucial that at this conference, the issue of the Armenian hostages in Baku prisons cannot be ignored,” Moreno Ocampo told reporters Friday at a press conference in Yerevan, part of a landmark trip to Armenia. Moreno Ocampo’s agenda included meetings with Armenians forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh and with the region’s exiled leadership, as well as visits to frontline villages. […]
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‘Sky’s the limit’ on Armenia’s wine renaissance
Stepan Baghdassarian, founder and CEO of WinesofArmenia.com, sits down with CivilNet’s Mark Dovich to talk about the challenges and opportunities he has as one of the biggest importers of Armenian wines to the United States. Stepan discusses the current state of Armenian winemaking and what the future holds for the burgeoning industry. “Armenia is going through a wine renaissance,” Stepan says. “We were the leaders of winemaking, going back at least 6,200 years, possibly more. And we’re back. Sky’s the limit.”
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Who is to blame for losing the war?
In this week’s episode of Insights, host Eric Hacopian discusses, Armenia’s development path, focusing on Yerevan’s frequent power outages. Eric also breaks down the release from prison of former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan last month, and what to expect from parliament’s ongoing review of the 2020 Artsakh war.
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‘EU membership referendum’ – an unofficial start of Armenia’s 2026
A group of politicians and political activists in Armenia have launched an initiative to hold a referendum on joining the European Union. It’s natural for a country or its citizens to aspire to join the EU, given that membership symbolizes a commitment to European values—human dignity, human rights, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, tolerance, justice, and peace. Beyond values, EU membership offers significant economic and institutional benefits. For countries seeking membership, it promises improved public administration through heightened transparency, accountability, and efficiency. In short, EU accession leads to a higher standard of living. It’s widely acknowledged that societies […]
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