Threat Perception of the Ruling Elite of the Republic of Armenia in Relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan 2008-2016

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to find out the dynamics of security threat perceptions among the ruling elite of Armenia from the 2008 Russian-Georgian war to the 2016 April four-day war. The internal structural problems and the existing threats in the relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan were singled out, as defined by the ruling elite. Through discourse analysis the speeches, texts, interviews and other formats of public speech by president Serzh Sargsyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian, as well as, in case of strong relevance, other key actors representing the ruling elite were collected and analyzed. The importance of the research purpose is that the perceptions of threat, as assessed by the elites, is the most important foundation for formulating foreign and defense policies and/or informing their assessment.