• Regional and Energy Security
• Informational security

16.07.2015 PROPAGANDA, AGITATION, MANIPULATION AND PERSUASION
Anna Zhamakochyan
The notion of propaganda (Latin propagare, meaning to spread or to propagate) has originated in ecclesial context, in relation to preaching and missionary activities. The first known usage of this term is dated 1718, which was related to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Congregatio de propaganda fide) established in early 1620s to control missionary activities in foreign countries.

10.07.2015 SOCIAL MEDIA IN ARMENIA (2015 data)
Samvel Martirosyan
Social networking continues to develop in Armenia. The numbers of social media users grow, and their influence on public life and flows of information increases, too. On the other hand, it appears Armenia is approaching a saturation point.

18.06.2015 STRATEGIC RESEARCH CENTERS IN TURKEY
Arestakes Simavoryan
Systemic development of strategic research centers (SRC) in Turkey started in 1960s. Among the Middle Eastern countries Turkey probably has the oldest think tanks along with Israel. Among the various research areas and directions they also study the development traits, typology, strategic priorities and other aspects of the Armenian think tanks.

18.05.2015 PECULIARITIES OF MANIPULATION TECHNIQUES IN POLITICAL TEXTS
Nvard Melkonyan
The language used for political communication, as integral part of the political culture of the given society, has its peculiarities. There is a common understanding that political language can be viewed as a natural code of the political culture, which allows accessing almost all of its areas and layers. In addition, the language works to some extent as a tool to provide for and maintain the necessary information level of the society.

15.05.2015 TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY OF ARMENIA IN 2014
Samvel Martirosyan
Telecommunications industry of Armenia continues its dynamic growth. Mobile communications develop vibrantly.The number of mobile service subscribers in Armenia reached 3,424,236 in the fourth quarter of 2014, growing by 75,437 subscribers in a half-year period.

27.04.2015 POTENTIAL MODELS OF INTERNET GOVERNANCE AND ARMENIA’S APPROACHES
Samvel Martirosyan
The matters of internet governance are among the most complicated problems today, as quite often there are no ready solutions to them. There are several internet governance models today. One of them is complete state monopoly over internet, whereby the government ignores the opinions of other stakeholders in the society. This approach is currently gaining foothold in many countries: China adheres to this approach.

15.04.2015 CAN WE MOVE TOWARDS A MULTIPOLAR WORLD DESPITE HEGEMONY IN THE MEDIA?
by Roberto Quaglia
States struggling against imperialism are probably not sufficiently aware of the importance of having non-aligned media. Yet, obviously, Russia Today, Press TV, Telesur and Al Mayadeen are better at defending freedom than other weapons. For these are indeed weapons we are talking about.

01.04.2015 AMERICAN INFORMATION WEAPON USED AGAINST EUROPEAN POLITICIANS
by Georgy Voskresensky
Anonymous first appeared in 2003 on Internet image boards as a group of hackers espousing the freedom of speech and operating as an «anarchist global digital brain». It is an instrument or a weapon designed to be used in information warfare. It has an advantage - in many cases it is extremely hard to define who exactly used it.

05.02.2015 WAR BY MEDIA AND THE TRIUMPH OF PROPAGANDA
By John Pilger
Why has so much journalism succumbed to propaganda? Why are censorship and distortion standard practice? Why is the BBC so often a mouthpiece of rapacious power? Why do the New York Times and the Washington Post deceive their readers?

08.12.2014 CENSORSHIP ALERT: THE ALTERNATIVE MEDIA GETTING HARASSED BY THE NSA
Author: Christof Lehmann
Google’s Safe Browsing List that blocks websites and flags them as containing malware is increasingly used as mechanism for the censoring of independent media and the falsification of history. It is an alarming development that, left unchallenged, puts the survival of any independent newspaper, blog, TV or radio station at risk.

30.10.2014 PROPOSALS REGARDING CYBERSECURITY OF ARMENIA
Samvel Martirosyan
Day to day Armenia becomes more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Until recently various cyber-attacks were viewed simply as curious media-events, while today, when dozens of websites come under hacker attacks, some cases of deeper impacts are seen. For example, a number DDoS attacks in 2013-2014 (perpetrators of which remain unknown to date) resulted in an overall internet disruption in Armenia.

06.10.2014 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN AZERBAIJAN TOO BLATANT TO COVER UP
Commenting on the West’s reaction to the human rights situation in Azerbaijan, the political analyst Gagik Harutyunyan said he believes that the international community is thus seeking a kind of information pressure against the country.

12.05.2014 DDOS ATTACKS ON ARMENIA CAUSE CONCERNS
Samvel Martirosyan
The DdoS hacking attacks cause increasing concerns for the global network security. Recently Armenia has also been frequently targeted by such attacks.

07.05.2014 ANOTHER NYT ‘SORT OF’ RETRACTION ON UKRAINE
By Robert Parry
Exclusive: The mainstream U.S. media likes to talk about Ukraine as an “information war,” meaning that the Russians are making stuff up. But the false narratives are actually being hatched more on the U.S. side, as a new New York Times story acknowledges, writes Robert Parry.

06.05.2014 ON SOME PECULIARITIES OF THE “COLD WAR 2”
Gagik Harutyunyan
After the downfall of the USSR only the laziest commentators did not say something along the lines that the cold war is over and soon an era of peace and prosperity will follow. Given the economic and social collapse in all post-Soviet countries, if such era ever happened, then only very few have experienced it.