FAIR LAWN, NJ—On Thursday, March 2, at 7:00 p.m. ET, United Kingdom-based Dr. Eduard Abrahamyan, an international relations scholar who specializes in small states’ foreign and security policies, will present “Small-State Strategies for Reforming Armenia’s Military: How Armenia Can Punch Above its Weight”—the fifth in the What’s Next series on the post-war Armenian reality.
The previous discussions—which featured analysts Armen Kharazian of blessed memory, Lilit Gevorgyan and Irina Ghaplanyan—examined the 44-day catastrophe and its aftermath within a wider context of Russo-Armenian relations, shifting geopolitical currents across the South Caucasus, and Armenia’s internal challenges—can be watched on YouTube.
Join Dr. Abrahamyan for a timely discussion of: how other small states have successfully constructed defense systems to mitigate asymmetric threats; combining compulsory service with active reserves and citizen-based territorial defense models; heightened role of education and training in small-state security architecture; oversight and responsibility of parliament for effective functioning of the security sector; role of independent media and security analysis; and strengthening whistleblowing provisions to ensure accountability and efficacy.
Register online to spend an evening in conversation with Abrahamyan and moderator Dr. Zaven Kalayjian to explore these topics and key findings from the Green Paper on Armed Forces Reform that was prepared by the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office and released in 2022.
Dr. Abrahamyan is a political scientist and teaching fellow at the University of Leicester (UK). His field of study includes foreign and military strategies of small states, strategic adaptation and asymmetrical relationships. Abrahamyan earned his doctoral degree from the University of Leicester in 2022. In 2010, he received his Candidate of Science in Military History from the Academy of Science of the Republic of Armenia. He was awarded a Rumsfeld Fellowship at the Washington-based American Foreign Policy Council (2017). Abrahamyan was a staff assistant and advisor on foreign affairs in 2019-2021 to former President of the Republic of Armenia Armen Sarkissian. He was a senior associate fellow at the Institute for Statecraft based in London, as well as a regular contributor to the IHS Markit (Jane’s Military Capabilities), The Jamestown Foundation, and other publications. He is a researcher with the Justice Armenia, Security Reform Research Project.
Dr. Kalayjian received his BSE in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. From 2001 to 2009, he lived in Yerevan, Armenia and worked in the high-tech sector. Kalayjian currently resides in Virginia, works in the defense industry and is active in the DC-Metro Armenian community. Kalayjian is coordinator with the Justice Armenia, Security Reform Research Project.
This event is dedicated to the memory of diplomat, legal scholar and linguist Armen Kharazian and his lifelong commitment to strengthen a sovereign Armenia. The organizers and participants of this discussion mourn the loss of a beloved friend and colleague. Kharazian suffered a fatal heart attack on January 27 during a working visit to Yerevan.
The event is jointly sponsored by the Ararat-Eskijian Museum, Armenian Bar Association, Armenian Network of America-Greater NY, Daughters of Vartan-Sahaganoush Otyag, Justice Armenia, Knights of Vartan-Bakradouny Lodge, National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)—Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Lecture Series on Contemporary Armenian Issues and St. Leon Armenian Church.
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