Armenia stands at a critical juncture, facing the dual challenges of ensuring security and driving innovation in a region fraught with conflict and uncertainty. This discussion will examine how Armenia manages pressing security challenges with long-term strategic thinking, including the role of technology, digital transformation and creative diplomacy in charting a path forward. The panelists will explore the lessons Armenia offers on resilience, adaptation and reimagining small state strategy in volatile geopolitical contexts.

Panelists:
Dr. Anna Ohanyan, Stonehill College in Massachusetts;
Dr. Nerses Kopalyan, University of Nevada, Las Vegas;
Raffi Kassarjian, CEO and Principal Advisor at Sensyan;

Moderator:
Maria Titizian, Editor-in-Chief of EVN Report

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Dr. Anna Ohanyan
Anna Ohanyan is Richard B. Finnegan Distinguished Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. She is a two-time Fulbright Scholar, and a Non-resident Senior Scholar in the Russia/Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Ohanyan has authored, edited and co-edited five books and numerous academic articles. Her most recent book is “The Neighborhood Effect: The Imperial Roots of Regional Fracture in Eurasia”, published with Stanford University Press in 2022. She is the recipient of the 2022 Michael Horne Award for Distinguished Faculty Scholarship at Stonehill College. Her “Regional Fracture and Its Intractability in World Politics: The Case of the Late Ottoman Empire,” published with Nationalities Papers in 2022, received the 2023 Huttenbach Prize by the 27th Convention of the Association for the Studies in Nationalities at Columbia University in New York. She is a public scholar and has contributed to BBC, PBS, the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Bloomberg-Asia, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CNBC-Asia, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, and The Washington Quarterly, among many other news outlets and policy journals.

Ohanyan has also consulted for numerous organizations such as the U.S. State Department,United Nations Foundation, the World Bank, the National Intelligence Council Project at Maryland University, the Carter Center, and USAID. Her work has taken her across the globe, from Northern Ireland to the Balkans, Russia, and the South Caucasus.

Dr. Nerses Kopalyan
Dr. Nerses Kopalyan is an Associate Professor-in-Residence of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His fields of specialization include international security, geopolitics, political theory, and philosophy of science. He has conducted extensive research on polarity, superpower relations, and security studies. He is the author of "World Political Systems After Polarity" (Routledge, 2017), the co-author of "Sex, Power, and Politics" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), and co-author of "Latinos in Nevada: A Political, Social, and Economic Profile" (2021, Nevada University Press). His current research and academic publication concentrate on geopolitical and great power relations within Eurasia, with specific emphasis on democratic breakthroughs within authoritarian orbits. He has conducted extensive field work in Armenia on the country's security architecture and its democratization process. He has authored several policy papers for the Government of Armenia and served as voluntary advisor to various state institutions. Dr. Kopalyan is also a regular contributor to EVN Report. 

Raffi Kassarjian
Raffi Kassarjian is CEO and Principal Advisor at Sensyan, a boutique advisory firm focused on the growing Armenian tech sector. Since moving to Armenia in 2008, Raffi has led the following organizations as CEO: iCON Communications (pioneer wireless internet service provider), TeamViewer Armenia (also serving as Senior Vice President at TeamViewer GmbH), and the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE). He was also a member of the Management Board of Converse Bank Corporation. Previously, Raffi was Vice President and General Manager at Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE: FICO). Prior to Fair Isaac, he was a Senior Manager with Accenture’s Strategic Services practice.

Raffi was born in Beirut, lived briefly in Tehran, and spent over 30 years in the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business Administration degrees from Stanford University. He is an adjunct lecturer at the American University of Armenia, and founding board member of Repat Armenia Foundation, Impact Hub Yerevan, and EVN Report.

Maria Titizian
Maria is a writer, journalist, and editor with over two decades of experience covering Armenia and the region. She has reported extensively from Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian diaspora communities in Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, shedding light on their challenges and resilience. Her career spans roles as an anchor at Armenia’s Public Television, Associate Editor of the U.S.-based Armenian Reporter, and Managing Editor at CivilNet. She is the founding Editor-in-Chief of EVN Report, a leading English-language magazine dedicated to in-depth journalism on Armenia’s political, social, and cultural landscape. In 2025, she was honored by the Yerevan Press Club for her steadfast commitment to the principles of ethical journalism.

For over a decade, Maria has been a faculty member in the English and Communications Department at the American University of Armenia and recently helped to develop the university’s Master’s in Journalism program where she also teaches.

This event is part of the Armenian studies program at CREEES.