The Challenge of Statehood

the long version

The Challenge of Statehood is a timely book on politics in Armenia and its Diaspora since Armenia's independence. The volume analyzes how conflicting interpretations of history have nurtured competing policies and influenced the future of Armenia and of its relations with its neighbors. The author challenges ideologized views of war and diplomacy, of the Genocide and the politics of its recognition, and of national unity and political legitimization. He explores the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, the difficult relations with Turkey, and the relationship between Homeland and Diaspora. The author argues that the resignation of President Levon Ter-Petrossian in 1998 constituted a watershed in the ongoing battle between pragmatic and ideological concepts of independence statehood and nationhood.