AGAVNI KARAKHANYAN: PARTICIPATION OF ANALYTICAL CENTERS IN DRAWING OUT OF FOREIGN POLICY CONCEPTIONS OF ARMENIA SHOULD BECOME AN INDIVISIBLE ELEMENT OF POLITICAL PRACTICE
by David Stepanyan
Arminfo
Thursday, November 24, 16:20
Interview of director of Institute for Civil Society and Regional
Development Agavni Karakhanyan with ArmInfo news agency
What the key foreign policy vectors of Armenia are priority today?
The modern geo-political realities raise exclusive standards to
choosing of the ways of political development of Armenia. This choice
is especially important when forming the foreign policy doctrine. We
are forced to form it in the always changing international and
regional political conditions, to look for acceptable formats of
cooperation in the conditions of transformation of the whole system
of international relations. The foreign political landscape, in
which Armenia is forced to act, requires correlation of interests
of its neighboring states – Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran,
the interests of close and distant interested states in the bilateral
format as well as multilateral relations within the frames of such
structures like CIS, CSTO, as well as international organizations –
EU, NATO and others. The present geo-political situation is not simple
for Armenia. Being the strategic partner of Russia in the region,
at the same time Armenia supports economical and political relations
with Iran, which Washington has serious pretensions to.
Armenia also has historically conditioned unacceptable relation
with Turkey, US ally on NATO. And finally, Armenia is linked with
Azerbaijan, which enters the zone of the political and oil interests
of the USA, on the Karabakh issue. The situation is not so simple in
the political atmosphere of relations between the countries of the
South Caucasus region as well, which often trace mutually exclusive
strategic interests and, as a rule, have differing from each other
conceptions regarding settlement of the conflicts of the region.
How much harmonic is the foreign political course of Armenia? And
does it find room in the situation described by you ?
In the context of above mentioned conditions, the foreign political
course of Armenia, which has recently gained more active and
“attacking” nature, on the one hand, has resulted in raising of
attention of the world community to the republic, but on the other
hand, has caused serious criticism of various political forces
within the country. The discussions and arguments are held around
specific actions by Armenian Foreign Ministry, the principle of
complementarity, which was officially fixed in Armenian FM like the
key way for settlement of foreign political problems. And although
the elements of the democratic content, the bright demonstration of
which became public discussions on Armenian-Turkish Protocols, are
more and more actively displayed in the political culture of Armenia,
nevertheless, the main argument on the foreign policy issues is held
between the politicians, and finally, solutions are taken only on the
basis of conclusions made by the political elite and Foreign Ministry.
Are there human resources which are not used by the people coordinating
foreign political line of Armenia?
In the not so simple, quickly changing and non-standard situation
in the region and in the world, the foreign political challenges of
Armenia or the problems of its economic and foreign trade development
cannot and should not be resolved only by means of political will and
conjecture. These issues require the complex approach and solutions.
The multi vector of the political process, availability of numerous
suddenly displayed factors, including the subjective ones, the
difficulties in the region and at the world arena, have been creating
the situations which require at least the “competent” foreign political
approach. We think that in such conditions one can and should “let in
a fresh stream” in the process of making solutions in foreign policy,
“join” analysts and experts which have been dealing with these issues
at the professional level. Such involvement of experts should be
of the permanent and stable nature. This is necessary for providing
of effectiveness of the solutions as well as for overcoming of the
stereotypes in the political mentality and public opinion. All these
are vitally important factors of civil society establishment in
Armenia and the relevant democratic ways of affecting foreign policy.
Will this “fresh stream” lead to the high quality changes in the
foreign policy of the republic?
I think, it will, as the problems of foreign policy of Armenia
are interesting for foreign organizations , let’s say, like an
investigation held by them under the financial support by the Norwegian
Institute for International Relations within the frames of the project
Regional Competence Building for Think Tanks in the South Caucasus and
Central Asia. For this reason, the assessments of Armenian experts
should always be in the center of attention of Armenian Foreign
Ministry and they should always apply to the analysts. The experts,
which have enough intellectual potential and experience, may strictly
form foreign political goals, place them in the context of the world
processes and moods, and in such a way to form public moods not only
in Armenia but outside it as well.
Participation of the analytical centers and expert community in
drawing out of the foreign political conceptions and actions of
Armenia at the world arena should become an indivisible element of the
political practice of the country. The expert community of professional
analysts like a part of the elite of the civil society of Armenia is
able to affect formation of the foreign political priorities of the
republic. We can start this process from discussion of the foreign
political conception of Armenia in wide public and analytical circles.