Blogging the democratic revolution
Tim Russo continues to post his manuscript about his work promoting democracy in Armenia back in the ’90s, and a particularly interesting post for Publius readers would be one of his latest on the “
It’s only lately with all this free time on my hands that I’ve been able to regularly read over Publius’ blogroll, so I stopped over at Tim Russo’s Democracy Guy blog to see if he was talking at all about his time working for NDI in Armenia. More than ever, it seems. He’s self-publishing a book online about his time doing democracy activism, providing slice-of-life details and funny anecdotes from the ground. The latest is about trying co-exist with scorpions, and failign. You’ll like it. He’s put up six chapters so far. Check them out here: 1, 2, 3, 4,…
Falsifying elections is a tough job, so you need just the right authoritarian government to do it. Armenia was another country on the list to do so this weekend, with a constitutional referendum that, despite polling places being nearly empty all day, reported a relatively high turnout. But given that the opposition simply boycotted the referendum, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if a “yes” vote actually did occur, from what I can tell, and the specific amendments — like giving more power to the parliament, granted the judiciary more independence, and giving diasporans citizenship — sound like the first…
Presidents Kocharian of Armenia and Aliyev of Azerbaijan, two countries tangled in constant conflict, are due to meet face to face at a CIS meeting today and will likely discuss relations between the two countries. In particular, the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Secretary Rice made sure to call them both up and put her word in, urging a solution to be found soon. Question: What did Secretary Rice discuss during her phone calls to Presidents Aliyev and Kocharian? Answer: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke briefly this morning with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President Robert Kocharian of Armenia.…
After the government of Azerbaijan accused the opposition of being funded by Armenian intelligence and NDI for a coup, the political progress in the country seems to be degrading quickly. In my analysis of what happened, I wrote that, “using Armenia is probably the best way for the Azeri government to discredit the opposition in one sure-fire nationalistic sweep.” Indeed, now pro-government and opposition groups are clashing in the streets over the allegations. (AFP) – Some 300 pro- and anti-government demonstrators in Azerbaijan showered each other with stones and bottles Monday in a clash over an opposition leader’s alleged contacts…
The leader of the Yeni Fikr youth movement has been arrested by authorities, who are claiming that he took money from Armenian special intelligence in order to prepare a revolution in Azerbaijan through a plot hatched by the United States NDI. Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor-General’s Office announced on 4 August the arrest of Ruslan Bashirli, leader of the opposition youth movement Yeni Fikir (New Thinking), on charges of plotting to overthrow the Azerbaijani leadership at the instigation of Armenian intelligence operatives. Those allegations, which the Armenian National Security Service and Bashirli’s fellow Azerbaijani oppositionists have both rejected, highlight Azerbaijan’s ongoing suspicion and…
Blogger Tim Russo, who did democracy work in Armenia, tells us not to hold our breath on a united opposition front there. Armenian opposition parties might be the most splintered opposition in the entire former Soviet Union. Almost daily, some guy decides that the other guy running the party doesn’t deserve to run the party, and runs off to start his own party. “Opposition” alliances last about as long as Italian governments. There’s been so many parties, blocs, “unions,” and “fronts,” they’re running out of names for them. The same can also be said for Azerbaijan’s opposition, who had attempted…
The elections aren’t for a while, but. . . ARMENIAN OPPOSITION LEADER DOES FOREIGN POLICY U-TURN National Accord Party (AMK) Chairman Artashes Geghamian told a party conference in Yerevan on 19 February that the United States “must be the main pillar of democratization and strengthening” of Armenia, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reported. By contrast, during the 2003 presidential election campaign, Geghamian had argued for closer relations with Russia and Armenia’s accession to the Russia-Belarus Union. Geghamian finished in third place in the first round with some 17 percent of the vote. Geghamian also announced on 19 February that the AMK will…
Nathan has today’s news update for what’s coming out of Central Asia.
It all started with Georgia, followed soon after by the larger Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Since then, a domino effect has literally begun toppling the entire region toward the west, as the people of these countries have realized that Russia is no longer in power over them. The real fight is now between them and their own governments; a much easier battle. I’ve talked a bit about recent events in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, but it seems Armenia is joining the list of unsettled citizens. There are several reasons for Armenia’s distaste for Russia now. It was criticized heavily by Armenia…