Today is April 24, 2023. One hundred eight years ago, on this day, several hundred Armenian intellectuals were arrested and murdered, marking the beginning of the systematic deportation and mass murder of my ancestors.
Governance
[A]uthoritarians are violating international law because they can. As for the rest of us, we learned nothing from history.
One must be only human to feel the pain and the misery of 1.5 million Ukrainians displaced from their homeland. Coincidentally that number represents the number of my displaced ancestors, marched into the desert, and slaughtered in the first major genocide of the 20th Century. As I see the images on my television screen of…
As I begin my 14th year of academic service at one of the best research universities and highly ranked public affairs schools in the nation, I want to reflect on the value of local public service as the antidote to many wicked challenges facing us today.
Democracy's Hope is in Cities
Several years ago, I shared the podium…
Dear Mr. President, a heartfelt congratulations on your inauguration. Today as Americans, we celebrate our democracy and the peaceful transition of power from one administration to the other. While Americans remain very divided on their political views, I hope and pray that constitutionally they are gratified today in seeing you assume this responsibility for all…
January 6, 2021, was Epiphany on the Christian religious calendar. For Armenians around the globe, also known as Christmas. Unfortunately, however, it was also a day of utmost disappointment and outrage for this American Armenian lawyer, who values the rule of law, tolerance, freedom, and democracy. Someone uprooted from his ancestral land based on intolerance…
A New Year is the perfect time to focus on what is essential. "Never Again" is not just a slogan but a call to action, more so today than ever for Armenians worldwide. Armenia and Armenians must unite on a national strategy to preserve their identity, culture, and faith. This action must be calculated, planned,…
The cease-fire in the Caucasus is not a recipe for long-lasting peace. If history taught us anything, the cease-fire of 1994 gave Azerbaijan 26 years to regroup, learn, organize, and strategize. Armenia and Artsakh do not have the same 26 years' luxury, but only five years to accomplish the same goals.
The dreadful and ill-conceived…
In the policy world, we often mention the importance of a "perfect storm." The alignment of various interests and actors to create or change policy.
In my previous article, I highlighted "Russia's betrayal of Armenia, her ally," and the silence from the EU, which left "Armenia to fend for herself against Azerbaijan, Turkey, Pakistan, and…
This week's article on my Faculty Blog page was going to be on the era of peace and justice under President Woodrow Wilson and the importance of self-determination for nations. However, yesterday's events made me change course to express my pain and the pain of our students of Armenian heritage at USC. After six weeks…