Publications

Articles

Housing Provision for Displaced Persons: Government Target Is Half the Actual Need

By Hayk Khanumyan Armenia’s government stated in its 2026–2031 five-year action plan, under the section “Ensuring Equal Opportunities,” that it will “continue the housing provision program for 10,000 families displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.” This raises a straightforward question: does the government’s target cover the actual housing needs of the forcibly displaced population? To answer it, we […]

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Research

New RCDS Report: Towards an Asymmetric Defense Model – Building a Layered Drone Capability in Armenia

The Regional Center for Democracy and Security (RCDS) has published a new report by Louis-Mathieu Tartinville  and Eduard Arakelyan, Towards an Asymmetric Defense Model: Building a Layered Drone Capability in Armenia. The report examines Armenia’s military transformation and argues that, given the country’s structural disadvantage vis-à-vis Azerbaijan, conventional military parity is neither realistic nor sustainable. […]

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Democracy Watch

Why Armenia’s ‘spiritual security’ policy raises constitutional concerns

By Tigran Grigoryan #DemocracyWatch – Armenia’s newly re-elected government introduced “spiritual security” as a new policy priority, framing reform of the Armenian Apostolic Church as a national security issue. The agenda is included in its draft five-year action plan, published on August 20, and goes as far as envisaging the removal of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin […]

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Articles

Armenia’s New Military Uniform: The Parade Is Over, the Testing Continues 

By Eduard Arakelyan The issue of a new uniform for the Armed Forces of Armenia has been under discussion for several years now. A detailed analysis of the protracted process was published in October 2025, optimistically suggesting that the transition to a new uniform would not take place before the fall of 2026 or early […]

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Articles

Employment of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians in Armenia: Data and Policy Recommendations

By Hayk Khanumyan According to official statistics from Nagorno-Karabakh, as of the pre-war period in 2019, the number of people of working age in Nagorno-Karabakh exceeded 105,000. The working-age population included people aged 16–63. The economically active population—the number of employed people and those seeking employment—was approximately 72,000. The distribution of the labour force across […]

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Articles

Military Management and the Hidden Problems of Armenia’s Army

By Eduard Araqelyan A recent Hetq publication, based on the testimony of a participant in a 25-day military training exercise, has once again brought long-standing problems within the Armenian Armed Forces into the public spotlight. The significance of the article lies not so much in its description of conditions at a single combat position, but […]

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Articles

Why Iran Is Reconsidering the Caspian Convention After Eight Years

By Eduard Arakelyan The Iranian government has approved a bill on the ratification of the 2018 Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea and submitted it to parliament. The bill was approved under an “urgent procedure,” meaning it will undergo expedited review in the relevant parliamentary committees. In addition, an upcoming Caspian summit […]

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Articles

Taleb’s Post and Armenia’s Post-War Fetishization of Pragmatism

By Tigran Grigoryan On August 2, renowned public intellectual Nassim Nicholas Taleb posted on X that he would not visit Azerbaijan as long as Ruben Vardanyan remains imprisoned in Baku. In his post, Taleb wrote: “Was asked to go to Azerbaijan for a lecture . I declined (they yuugely upped their offer, not understanding my […]

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Articles

Housing Solutions for Forcibly Displaced People from Nagorno-Karabakh: Progress and the Road Ahead

By Hayk Khanumyan As a result of the 2020 war and Azerbaijan’s attack in September 2023, the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh—around 150,000 people—was forcibly displaced from their places of residence and lost their homes. Beginning in 2022, the Armenian government launched housing assistance programs for different groups of people forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. The first […]

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