New Power

This Conversations on Groong episode provides a primer on Armenia’s June 7, 2026 parliamentary elections, reviewing the 17 parties and 2 alliances registered to compete. The discussion explains the election rules, thresholds, coalition process, and the “stable majority” mechanism, while stressing the uneven political environment facing opposition forces. The episode then walks through each participant, including Civil Contract, Strong Armenia, Armenia Alliance, Prosperous Armenia, Wings of Unity, Bright Armenia, ANC, Bever, Republic, DOK, Democratic Consolidation, and smaller parties with  Read More

In this Week in Review, Asbed and Hovik discuss the fallout from the EPC summit in Yerevan, Armenia’s role as a platform for anti-Russian messaging, and Putin’s warning about a possible “separation” if Armenia moves toward the EU. They examine the Armenia-EU declaration, focusing on TRIPP, Ukraine, hybrid threats, security cooperation, visa liberalization, and the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant. The episode then turns to Armenia’s election campaign, Pashinyan’s claim that Artsakh was “never ours,” Aliyev’s parallel messaging from occupied Artsakh, pressure on opposition figures, the Swiss Peace Initiative, and sharp divergence between election polls.

Prof. Warwick Powell discusses his thermoeconomic view of world politics, where energy, money, and information form a single system. We connect the war on Iran to declining U.S. energy efficiency, the limits of airpower, de-dollarization, and the rise of alternative financial and information architectures. We also bring the conversation back to Armenia, asking what TRIPP, SMRs, and large AI data centers could mean for a small state trying to protect its energy and information sovereignty. We close by reflecting on considerations for Armenia in implementing centralized data infrastructure, more  Read More