Vol. 10 No. 1 (28) (2019)

Presented by Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Gegham Petrosyan, this work, which made a significant contribution to the historical and diplomatic literature presented to the scientific community, is a comprehensive and in-depth study on the restoration of Armenian statehood. This work by the author presents the Turkish-Transcaucasian and Turkish-Armenian negotiation processes in Trabzon and Batumi in a new light.

The driving factor of the Armenian "Velvet Revolution" was domestic politics in the post-revolutionary stage, the foreign policy agenda of the Republic of Armenia (RA) did not change significantly. During the Armenian Revolution, the Russian Federation (RF) did not intervene, considering its experience
with Ukraine and the massive support for Armenian opposition by the local population. Unlike other colour revolutions, Yerevan announced that it will maintain status-quo. From that perspective, the geopolitical balance in the region was maintained for the RF. At the same time, the population of RA perceived that the roots of this democratic movement are the domestic factors and are not related to the RF actions. In the post-revolutionary stage, the disputes between the RA and RF are more situational rather than strategic in nature. Kremlin perceives that they should deal with their ally differently, considering that in terms of quality they have a new ally before them. Armenia-Russia relations will continue advancing in the international and regional complicated condition and become mutually more beneficial and pragmatic.

The article analyzes the economic benefits that Turkey receives from Azerbaijan in exchange for not opening the border with Armenia. It is noted that in reality, Turkey simply takes into account it's national, economic interests and, on the basis of them, prefers not to open the border with Armenia yet, not to settle relations with it. The article also lists the factors that can contribute to the settlement of interstate relations between Armenia and Turkey.

The article deals with the analyses of periods of intercourse between Armenian Apostolic and Russian Orthodox Churches in the last thousand years – from the 10th century till now. The author emphasizes the chronological framework and content of the interchurch relations occurring in each period. Special attention is given to the theological dialogue which took place on the pages of the scientific and journalistic press in Russia in 19th-beginning of the 20th century. General spheres of common activity of two churches in the modern world are shown. While writing the article author worked with published and unpublished sources taken from the collection of Armenian National archive and Russian state historical archive.

The region of South Caucasus has historically been an arena of competing interests for global and regional actors. Turkey, which has always been one
of them, actively reen-gaged into the region after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Not only did Turkey realize Georgia's crucial importance as a transit country of the Caspian energy resources, but it also viewed Georgia as a link with Azerbaijan and Central Asian republics. Therefore, immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union Turkey set up intensive cooperation with Georgia also making use of soft power tools. The aim of this article is to explore the peculiarities of Turkish soft power in Georgia, to examine its main components and to outline the importance of soft power for bilateral relations.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of various concepts of the origin, interpretation, and strategies for power implementation. The main goal of the research is to identify the paradigm shifts in political theory and justify the relevance of the dialogical paradigm of power. In particular, author discusses the sectional and non-sectional concepts of power, considers the main power implementation strategies under the prism of a dialogical paradigm. Pointing to the limitedness of conflict theories of power the author substantiates that in modern conditions, as paradigm shifts, the whole philosophy of power is changing. The author concludes that in parallel with the formation and development of the information and communication society, the use of “hard” power strategies is significantly reduced. And the new trends of decentralization of the power and wild use of network management technologies, in turn, open up new perspectives for the implementation and application of dialogue strategies realization of power.

Interstate relations between the countries of the South Caucasus and the Middle East strongly perceive the religious and ethnic factor. The conflict between the religious areas of Sunni and Shiya affects the relations between Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia. In this process, the Turkic community brings Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan closer. Israel in its regional policy supports anti-Shiite forces.

In modern societies, the effectiveness of state governance becomes crucial in public conscious. Contemporary states have entered a new stage development where the effectiveness of governance is one of the most important factors necessary for "good governance". It has a positive impact on people's interaction. In this case, the definition and specification of mechanisms and ways of formation of government bodies, particularly the legislative one, are extremely important. The studies on international experience have shown that in the parliamentary system of government, the legislative body carries the burden of democracy, becoming the pillar of the government system, the body with the primary mandate. The purpose of transformations in government forms of Post-Soviet countries aimed to ensure the functioning of parliaments, including passing and changing the constitutions, laws, overseeing their implementations, appointing referendums, etc. In addition, we could mention also the organization of elections both in national and regional representative bodies, forming a central electoral commission, changing the state border and so on.