Armenia’s Velvet Revolution

Issue Date April 2019
Volume 30
Issue 2
Page Numbers 85-99
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The 2018 Velvet Revolution in Armenia is a historic opportunity for democratic development. Popular protests led by Nikol Pashinian dislodged the country’s kleptocratic ruling elite, and a new government that promised sweeping domestic reforms was elected at the year’s end. These protests drew on a long history of civil society and opposition organizing in Armenia, in particular postelection protests in 2008, which the government dispersed with violence. The new government faces enormous challenges as it begins to contemplate reforming a system based on corruption and injustice, while still balancing Armenia’s foreign-policy commitments and security concerns.

About the Authors

Miriam Lanskoy

Miriam Lanskoy is senior director for Russia and Eurasia at the National Endowment for Democracy. She is the author, with Ilyas Akhmadov, of The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost (2010).

View all work by Miriam Lanskoy

Elspeth Suthers

Elspeth Suthers is senior program officer for Eurasia at the National Endowment for Democracy.

View all work by Elspeth Suthers

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