19.12.2011
"21st CENTURY", N 2, 2011
The 2nd issue of “21st CENTURY” journal for 2011 has been published. It featured articles devoted to the new statehood and new challenges to Armenia (G. Harutyunyan), energy security (S. Sarukhanyan) and renewable energy projects in Armenia (A. Marjanyan), Russian-Armenian relations at the beginning of the 20th century (V. Hovhannisyan), US foreign policy towards the South Caucasus (T. Koushakjian), as well as the 20th anniversary of the CIS (S. Grinyaev) and issues of territorial integrity and self-determination (E. Gzoyan, L. Banduryan).
Below you can find the annotations of the articles in English.
Gagik Harutyunyan
NEW STATEHOOD AND NEW CHALLENGES
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Annotation
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The geopolitical and ideological shifts of the early 20th century (World War I, the 1917 Russian revolution, collapse of the Russian, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires) brought grim ordeals to Armenia – the Genocide and loss of Western Armenia. The shocks of the late 20th century caused by the defeat of the USSR in the Cold War also had a negative impact on the Armenian society, taking a heavy toll on the economy, social/demographic conditions and especially on the science and technology. However, in spite of the losses, this time Armenia was able to achieve part of its national goals. This was made possible thanks to the civilizational resources and the potential built up in the Second Republic. Armenia won the Artsakh war that it has been forced into, and established the Third and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republics. Apparently, all these processes still require a more thorough comprehension by the Armenian analysts’ community, whereas we will attempt to systemize the process of building the new Armenian statehood and uncover some key patterns of this process.
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Sevak Sarukhanyan
ENERGY SECURITY OF ARMENIA: MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES
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Annotation
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Ensuring a high level of energy security can be viewed as one of the main achievements of Armenia during the 20 years of independence. Its significance is emphasized by the fact that the newly independent Armenia started its history with an acute energy crisis, and its influence on the social and economic life in some cases was devastating. However, Armenia marks the 20th anniversary of its independence as a regional energy centre with diversified energy imports and considerable export potential.
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Ara H. Marjanyan
RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT IN ARMENIA: MAIN RESULTS AND OUTPUTS
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Annotation
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The Republic of Armenia is a small landlocked country with limited energy resources to satisfy its needs. Armenia has no proven oil and natural gas reserves, and imports nearly all of its all primary energy resources (oil and oil products, natural gas, nuclear fuel). Given the regional geopolitical instability and Armenia’s closed borders with two of its neighbors, the high reliance of electricity generation on imported fuels (more than 70% is generated by imported natural gas and nuclear) makes the Armenian economy vulnerable to fuel price and supply fluctuations. The severe consequences of fuel supply disruptions on the Armenian economy and people’s lives surfaced during the energy crisis (1992-95) when the electricity supply declined to 2 to 4 hours a day and there was a massive collapse in industrial activity and national income.
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Vazgen Hovhannisyan
MAJOR DEVELOPMENT TRENDS OF THE RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN RELATIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY
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Annotation
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The dynamics of Russian – Armenian strategic partnership over the first postsoviet decade has been shaped by several factors. First of all, both Russia and Armenia entered the 21st century with already developed and comprehensive framework of bilateral relations covering almost all dimensions of the strategic interests concerning issues in both regional and international arenas. Specifically, over the course of the 1990’s several important long-term bilateral documents were signed between Russia and Armenia that formed the formal backbone of the strategic relations, including the Agreement on the Status and Functions of the Russian Military Base on the Territory of Armenia, and the 1997 Russian-Armenian Treaty on Friendship, Partnership and Mutual Assistance.
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Taniel Koushakjian
U.S. FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS FROM INSIDE WASHINGTON, DC’S POLICY CIRCLES
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Annotation
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A majority of articles written about the Caucasus seem to focus on Azerbaijan and Caspian energy. Therefore, it is no surprise that talk about U.S. and European policy toward the region is devoted to those two aspects. Some even describe them as a top priority for U.S. interests in the region, above and beyond democracy and civil freedoms, which have been on the decline in recent years. At first glance, many Americans might ask: what does the United States have to do with Europe’s energy needs? To put it plainly, why do we care? Vincent O’Brien, Chief of Staff to Richard Morningstar, Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy at the U.S. Department of State, raised that exact question at the Woodrow Wilson Center earlier this year1. He stated that the United States and the European Union (EU) have the largest trade relationship in the world, so it is natural that European concerns are in our interest and vice versa. In 2009 the U.S. and the EU established a bi-lateral Energy Council2. According to O’Brien, the central theme to the US-EU Energy Council is energy security – making sure the gas keeps flowing to Europe.
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Sergei Grinyaev
A FAILED PROJECT. DEVOTED TO THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CIS
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Annotation
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This year the 20th anniversary of establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States is marked. This is a date giving a sufficiently serious reason to appraise the role of this political formation in the history, as it substituted the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics – the colossus which formed the former world order and determined the development of an entire epoch, thus laying foundation of the unique Soviet civilization.
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Edita Gzoyan, Lilit Banduryan
TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND SELF-DETERMINATION: CONTRADICTION OR EQUALITY?
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Annotation
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The emergence of International Law is closely connected with the formation of independent states. It is intended to govern the conduct of independent states in their relationship with one another via norms and main principles. The main documents on the contents of principles of modern International Law are the 1970 UN Declaration of Principles of International Law and the 1975 OSCE Declaration on Principles Guiding Relations between Participating States. Territorial integrity and self-determination of nations are two principles of the International Law, which raise a lot of debates because of a supposed contradiction. Territorial integrity refers to the protection of an independent state’s territory from aggression of other states. Self-determination is defined as a right of nations to freely decide their sovereignty and political status without external compulsion or outside interference.
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