Between the big blocs: Armenian foreign policy untangled

Abstract

This paper seeks to shed light upon the foreign policy choices of Armenia today, in particular regarding the recent moves vis-à-vis Russia and the EU. It explains the idea of the policy of complementarity and how this idea was genetically enrooted in the special circumstances of the Republic of Armenia’s birth in 1991. Influencing factors in its recent history include its vast diaspora around the world and the conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan about Nagorno-Karabakh, which strongly intertwines Armenian foreign and economic policy with larger powers outside Armenia. The author analyses the special relationship with Russia and the growing cooperation with the EU. The current geopolitical disputes are occurring between these two large blocs, and they are clearly beyond Armenia’s influence. In conclusion, the paper seeks to design a perspective based on rationality, within which the originally sought win–win–win relationship can still be realised for Armenia, Russia and the EU.