Category: NATO

Armenians at Crossroads - 04/17/2021

Topics:

• The Last Few Years in Armenian Politics
• Thoughts on the Second War in Artsakh
• What is the Role of the Diaspora?
• How do we get back on our Feet?
• Thoughts on the Current Rift in the ARF

Guest

• Dr. Viken Hovsepian holds a BA in Political Science from UCLA, and an MA and PhD in International Relations from USC. He has served on the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau, the highest executive body of the Organization, and has been a member, and chairman of the ARF Western US Central Committee. In 2019, he helped establish the Pan Armenian Council in the Western

ANN/Groong Week in Review - April 11, 2021

Topics:

• Mr. Pashinyan goes to Moscow
• Election Politics
• The POW debacle
• A Coronavirus Update
• The State of the Economy

Guests:

• Asbed Kotchikian
• Hrant Mikaelian

Hosts:

• Asbed Bedrossian
• Hovik Manucharyan

Episode 57 | Recorded: April 12, 2021

ANN/Groong Week in Review - April 4, 2021

Topics:

• Kocharyan’s Prosecutors Won’t Go Away
• Snap Electoral Reforms
• New Gallup poll
• What’s Going on in Ukraine?

Guests

• Asbed Kotchikian
• Emil Sanamyan

Hosts

• Asbed Bedrossian
• Hovik Manucharyan

Website: https://groong.org/podcasts/WiR-20210404.html Episode 56 | Recorded: April 4, 2021

ANN Groong Week in Review - Episode 52 - Feb 28, 2021

Topics Covered:

• Wait, Did Armenia Use the Iskander to Blow Up its Relations With Russia?
• Wait, Was There a Coup?
• The Opposition Picks up Steam
• Wait, was The 737 Hijacked?

Guests:

• David Davidian
• George Tabakian

Your Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Website: https://groong.org/podcasts/WiR-20210228.html Episode 52 | Recorded: February 28, 2021

Armenia’s Earthquake Preparedness - 02/21/2021

Topics:

• Was it an Earthquake?
• Have Construction Codes Improved since 1988?
• Do Contractors Comply with Regulations?
• Is Armenia Ready for The Big One?
• Is there Earthquake Preparedness in Armenia?
• What Conversations are not Happening?

Guest:

• Dr. Armen Der Giureghian is a structural and civil engineering professor at UC Berkeley with research focus on earthquake engineering. He is a co-founder and was president of the American University of Armenia from 2014 until 2019.

Host:

• Asbed Bedrossian

Website: https://groong.org/podcasts/CoG-20210221.html Episode 50 | Recorded: February 19, 2021

ANN/Groong Week in Review Episode 49 - February 14, 2021

Topics Covered:

• Syunik Confidential
• Developments in Artsakh
• Snap elections flip flop

Guests:

• Emil Sanamyan
• Alen Zamanyan

Your Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Website: https://groong.org/podcasts/WiR-20210214.html Episode 49 | Recorded: February 14, 2021

ANN/Groong Week in Review - Jan 24, 2021

Topics Covered:

• Supreme Judicial Council Appointments
• Turkish-Azerbaijan Military Exercises in Kars Region
• Incoming US Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Armenia

Guests

• Aram Hamparian
• Asbed Kotchikian
• Emil Sanamyan

Your Hosts:

• Asbed Bedrossian
• Hovik Manucharyan

Website: https://groong.org/podcasts/WiR-20210124.html Episode 45 | Recorded on January 24, 2021

Research in Policy Making and Implementation (Ep #38) - 01/03/2021

Asbed Kotchikian is an associate professor of political science and international relations at the American University of Armenia, where he teaches courses on post-Soviet space and the Middle East.

Talks with

Arevik Anapiosyan is the Partnerships and Development Finance Advisor to the UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia, and has served as the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia. She co-founded and was the Executive Director of the Institute of Public Policy think tank in Yerevan.

Since the end of the first Nagorno-Karabakh war in 1994 and for over quarter of a century, Armenia has engaged in diplomatic activity with Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia and the West. The aim of those diplomatic initiatives was to find a solution to the conflict by engaging in direct diplomatic negotiations as well as track two diplomacy.

In September 2020, diplomatic initiatives gave way to a military one resulting in a war that reversed Armenia’s military successes and led to the signing of a cease-fire agreement which completely undermined Armenia’s position vis-a-vis Azerbaijan and Turkey.