END OF TRANSITION: Armenia 25 Years On. Now What? | DAY 1 - (USC Dornsife)

END OF TRANSITION: Armenia 25 Years On. Now What? | DAY 1
Twenty-five years after the Soviet collapse, citizens of Armenia, as well as observers and scholars are asking “Now What?” In an effort to better understand the past quarter century and to look for ways forward, the USC Institute of Armenian Studies is presenting a two-city conference entitled “The End of Transition: Shifting Focus a Quarter Century After the Soviet Collapse.”

Held at USC, on Sunday, April 9 and Monday, April 10, the conference brings together notable names in media, government, academia and the arts to explore regionalisms of Armenia, demographic changes, transitions in social and economic policy, the development of formal and informal political and social institutions, bottom-up social change and civil society formation. Speakers will look at the transition from the Soviet sphere to other foreign and regional alliances, and the evolution of Armenia’s bilateral relations with its immediate neighbors and other major powers. The conference will continue in Yerevan, Armenia on May 23-24.
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END OF TRANSITION: Armenia 25 Years On. Now What? | DAY 1 (Armenian Translation)


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ARMENIAN TRANSLATION

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END OF TRANSITION

ARMENIA 25 YEARS ON, NOW WHAT?

APRIL 9-10, 2017 | UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

A two-city conference that seeks to investigate the transitional and post-transitional processes in Armenia and the post-Soviet region.

Renowned diplomats, area specialists, and young scholars will present on the multitude of issues that have influenced 25 years of transition in Armenia.

Sunday, April 9, 2-5pm | USC Town & Gown

PROF. ROBERT ENGLISH

OPENING REMARKS

Professor Robert English is a graduate of Princeton and served as the Director of the USC School of International Relations from 2013 to 2016. He specializes in Russian and post-Soviet international relations, political economy, and nationalism in post-communist countries.

AMBASSADOR JACK MATLOCK (Video)

THE END AND THE BEGINNING

Jack Matlock is a career diplomat who served on the front lines of American diplomacy during the Cold War and was the last U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union when the Cold War ended.

AMBERIN ZAMAN

THE WEST – TURKEY – RUSSIA: CHANGING PARTNERS

Amberin Zaman is a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington DC. Until recently, she was the Turkey correspondent for the Economist.

PROF. DARON ACEMOĞLU (Video)

WHY (SOME) NATIONS FAIL

Daron Acemoğlu is Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His areas of research include political economy, economic development and growth, human capital theory, network economics and learning. He is the author of Why Nations Fail.

DR. HANS GUTBROD

THE TRANSITION OF EVERYTHING

Hans Gutbrod runs Transparify, an initiative to increase the transparency of policy research and advocacy. Based in Tbilisi, Georgia, Hans works as a Caucasus analyst and holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics. 

Monday, April 10, 9am-6pm | USC University Club

9:30 AM – 12:00 PM

FOREIGN POLICY & REGIONAL INTEGRATION

Chair: Prof. Robert David English (USC School of International Relastions, US)

A Violent Unraveling: Explaining Armenian-Azerbaijani Violence 1988-1994, Dr. Laurence Broers (Chatham House, UK)

The New Karabakh War: Who is Fighting and Who is Dying, Emil Sanamyan (Independent Analyst / USC, US)

The Diminishing Importance of Armenia in US Foreign Policy, Gregory Aftandilian (Boston University, US)

The Cynical Politics of Fluid Memory, Dr. Phil Gamaghelyan (Georgetown University, US)

EU-Armenia Relations: A Story of Stalled Transition, Dr. Hrant Kostanyan (Center for European Policy Studies, Belgium)

12:00 PM – 12:45 PM

LUNCH

12:45 PM - 1:15 PM

25 YEARS OF TRANSITION IN CINEMA

Eric Nazarian, Filmmaker (US)

3:30 PM – 6:00 PM

GOVERNANCE & ECONOMY

Chair: Dr. Hans Gutbrod (Transparify, Georgia)

The Transition of Demographics and the Demographics of Transition, Garik Hayrapetyan (UNFPA, Armenia)

The Transformation of Armenia’s Informal Economic Institutions, Dr. Nona Shahnazarian (Sociologist, Armenia)

The Factors of Democratic Transition, Asst. Prof. Arman Grigoryan (Lehigh University, US)

On Statecraft in a Fractured Region, Prof. Anna Ohanyan (Stonehill College, US)

3:30 PM – 6:00 PM

CIVIC CULTURE & SOCIAL CHANGE

Chair: Prof. Anna Ohanyan (Stonehill College, US)

From the Dark and Cold Years: Perceptions of Public Issues in Contemporary Armenia, Dr. Karena Avedissian (University of Southern California, US)

Armenian History Textbooks in Transition: A Comparison, Prof. Ara Sanjian (U. of Michigan-Dearborn, US)

Breakin’ the Norm: Alternative Expressions in Post-Independence Armenia, Serouj Aprahamian (York University, Canada)

The Diaspora's Role in the Health Care Transition, Shant Shekherdimian (Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, US)

Is a Western Armenian Identity Possible in "Eastern" Armenia?, Armen Karamanian (Macquarie University, Australia)

Strengthening Health Care Infrastructure Post USSR, Nelli Ghazaryan (George Washington University, US)

LOCATIONS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

APRIL 9, 2-5PM: Town & Gown

APRIL 10, 9AM-6PM: University Club