9:15-9:30 am: Opening Remarks: Alexander Markarov, Yerevan State University

9:30-11:30 am: Session 1: Eurasia as a “Turbulent” Region: Conflicts and State-Building

Chair: Henry Hale, George Washington University

Keith Darden, American University

“Letting Go: Yielding Territory as a Strategy of Effective State-building”

George Gavrilis, Independent Consultant

“Are Eurasian Conflicts Really All That Eurasian?”

Kelly McMann, Case Western Reserve University

“Governing Post-Soviet Countries in Turbulent Contexts”

Juliet Johnson, McGill University

“Pro-European or Anti-Russian? Waving the EU Flag in Eurasia”

Discussant: Harris Mylonas, George Washington University

11:30-12:15 pm: Keynote Speaker: Georgi Derluguian, NYU Abu Dhabi

12:15-1:00 pm: Lunch

1:00-2:30 pm: Session 2: Ukraine’s Ongoing Transformations: Regime and Citizenry

Chair: Keith Darden, American University

Mikhail Alexseev, San Diego State University

“Who Supports Democracy-Building in War-Torn States and Why? Insights from Ukraine Public Opinion”

Volodymyr Ishchenko, Kiev Polytechnic Institute

“The Rise of Civic Nationalism in Post-Euromaidan Ukraine?”

Yuriy Matsiyevsky, Ostroh Academy National University

“Why Authoritarianism Is Impossible in Ukraine”  

Discussant: Juliet Johnson, McGill University

2:30-3:00 pm: Coffee Break

3:00-5:00 pm: Session 3: Russia’s Foreign Policy and Its Regional Repercussions

Chair: Kelly McMann, Case Western Reserve University

Pavel Baev, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

“Russian Intervention in Syria and Russia’s Positions in the Caucasus”

Dmitry Gorenburg, CNA Corporation

“Continuity Trends in Russian Foreign Policy in the Post-Soviet Period”

Arkady Moshes, Finnish Institute of International Affairs

“A Partnership Not in the Making: Ukrainian-Belarusian Relations After the Euro-Maidan”

Mark Kramer, Harvard University

“Ramzan Kadyrov and the Peculiarities of the Chechen State. Implications for Russia and the West”

Discussant: Keith Darden, American University

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Day 2, Friday, November 9

Location: Russian-Armenian University, 123 Hovsep Emin St, Yerevan.

9:00-9:15 am: Opening Remarks: Hovhannes Sarkisyan, Russian-Armenian University

9:15-11:00 am: Session 4: Armenia’s Revolutions and Transformations

Chair: Pavel Baev, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

Alexander Iskandaryan, Caucasus Institute

“The Evolution of Revolutions: The Case of Armenia”

Yulia Antonyan, Yerevan State University

“The ‘Velvet’ Season of Multiple Revolutions in Armenia 2018”     

Nona Shahnazarian, Armenian National Academy of Sciences

“Armenian Gandism and Post-Revolutionary Reformism: Anti-Corruption Trends in “New Armenia” 

Hovhannes Sargsyan, Russian-Armenian University

“The Identity Policy in Republic of Armenia In Context of National Identity Transformation”

Discussant: Henry Hale, George Washington University

11:00-11:30 am: Coffee Break

11:30-1:00 pm: Session 5: De facto States: Geopolitics, Agency and Impact

Chair: Alexander Iskandaryan, Caucasus Institute

Harris Mylonas, George Washington University

“The Geopolitics of De Facto States”

Eiki Berg, University of Tartu

“Unpacking Agency: How Much Power Are De Facto States Able to Exert?”

Julie George, City University of New York

“The Role of Frozen Conflicts in Domestic Political Debates in the Caucasus and Moldova”

Discussant: George Gavrilis, Independent Consultant

1:00-1:45 pm: Lunch

1:45-2:30 pm: Keynote Speaker: Armen Darbinian, Russian-Armenian University

2:30-4:15 pm: Session 6: South Caucasus’s Nation-Building

Chair: Dmitry Gorenburg, CNA Corporation; Harvard University

Norayr Dunamalyan, Russian-Armenian University

“Public Diplomacy in the South Caucasus: New Strategies vs. Old Problems”

Lasha Kharazi, East European University

“Dialectics of Political Future in Georgia”

Nodar Shoshiashvili, East European University

“Formation of the New Identities and Narratives in the Post-Soviet Georgia”

Andrey Makarychev, University of Tartu

“Centenaries of Independence and Nation-(Re)Building Discourses: Baltic and Caucasian Experiences”

Discussant: Julie George, City University of New York

4:15-4:30 pm: Coffee Break

4:30-6:00 pm: Session 7: Governing Society and Health

Chair: Mikhail Alexseev, San Diego State University

Sergei Medvedev, Higher School of Economics

“Uses of Biopolitics in the Construction of the Political Community in Putin’s Russia”

Vladimir Popov, Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute, Berlin

“The Fall and Rise of Life Expectancy in Russia in the 1970s-2010s: Are There Similarities with the Decline in Life Expectancy of Non-Hispanic Whites in the US in the 2000s-2010s?”

Sebastien Peyrouse, George Washington University

“Constructing a Potemkin Nation? The Misuse of Health as an Element of Nation-Building in Turkmenistan in a Time of Crisis”

Discussant: Andrey Makarychev, University of Tartu

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