Armenia-U.S. relations: challenges for cooperation

Abstract

This internship policy analysis project was conducted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs American department to examine the relationship between the United States and Armenia since its independence. First of all, this paper will analyze the current U.S. foreign policy, including; unilateralism vs. multilateralism approaches, military/security concepts as drivers and determinants of foreign policy, as well as the U.S. geopolitical interests in the South Caucasus. In the second part, this paper will outline the challenges and threats that Armenia faced in the process of the adoption of its foreign policy, the current Armenia’s foreign policy of “complementarity” and its implication to the US-Armenia relations, including; Armenia-US military-to-military and economic cooperation, the US involvement as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution, the US assistance programs in Armenia: as well as the potential role of the large Armenian-American Diaspora in Armenia-US relations. And in the concluding section, some recommendations will be made on the ways to strengthen the US-Armenia relations.