Series: COG

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

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

Armenian IT Security and Readiness During Wartime - with Ruben Muradyan - Jan. 31, 2021

Experience being called up and participating in the war

Ethics of a security professional. What to do when a government member asks you to conduct greyhat (potentially unlawful or unethical) security?

On the 2nd day of the war Ruben was called up to the army as part of an infantry company.

• Can you describe your experience?
• How were you drafted? And where did you serve?
• What specialty did you have in the army?
• What can you tell us about what you saw?
• Why did we lose the war?

Cyber Incidents During Artsakh

𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 - 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐇𝐊/𝐑𝐏𝐀’𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐧 - 𝟎𝟏/𝟏𝟗/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

Following the trilateral Karabakh ceasefire of Nov 9, all major political forces in Armenia (be that parliamentary or extra-parliamentary, except for the ruling party) condemned Nikol Pashinyan’s agreement to the deal.

The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) has been in control of successive governments (sometimes through coalitions) for over two and a half decades. The party lost its prominence in the December 2018 elections but remained a vocal extra-parliamentary opposition.

Today we’re joined by:

𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐧, who is the vice

Former Artsakh Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan - 01/18/2021

We’ll be discussing various legal and human-rights topics within the context of recent developments in Armenia.

Guest:

• 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐲𝐚𝐧 was formerly Artsakh’s Human Rights Ombudsman and prior to that rector of the Justice Academy of Armenia. In 2019, Melikyan co-founded and currently leads the “Path of Law” NGO.

Topics:

• Why are there Armenian POWs still in Azerbaijan so long after the Nov. 9 ceasefire agreement?
• On Constitutional Court judges being forced to resign
• On Parliament’s endorsement of Gagik Jahangiryan’s appointment to the

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐧 - 𝟎𝟏/𝟏𝟑/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

Since Nikol Pashinyan came to power in 2018, and prior to the Artsakh war of 2020, issues around the Armenian constitution and constitutional court have been in the center of public attention. These issues have been partly fueled by one of the most prominent legal cases in recent Armenian history, the March 1 trial against Armenian president Robert Kocharyan and military leadership at the time. We’ll explore issues surrounding the March 1 case, as well as legal and specifically constitutional questions related to the Nov. 9 ceasefire

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩’𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐧 - 𝟎𝟏/𝟎𝟖/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

As protesters in the streets of Yerevan continue demanding the resignation of PM Nikol Pashinyan in the aftermath of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, the ruling My Step faction seems to be firmly on the side of the prime minister.

In the last week or so here at Groong we hosted representatives of various opposition parties and today we will host a representative from the ruling My Step faction to talk about the ongoing political crisis in Armenia.

Today we’re joined by:

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐧, who is a member of the National Assembly with

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.

To