armenia is cornered with no way out, but it has to find one.

landlocked, blockaded, and betrayed, can this tiny nation survive on its own?

If there’s one country that’s perpetually caught in a geopolitical no-man’s land, it’s Armenia. Landlocked, blockaded, and wedged between regional powers that either ignore it or outright dislike it, Armenia has spent the past few decades in a state of constant existential anxiety.

And now, after the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh and Russia’s blatant betrayal, it’s being forced to rethink everything. Its allies, its economy, its security, and, ultimately, its future.

The problem? There are no easy choices.

Following Azerbaijan's military offensive in September 2023, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians, nearly the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh, fled to Armenia within a span of two weeks. By October 3, 2023, the Armenian government reported that 100,617 refugees had crossed into Armenia. As of November 2023, only a few dozen ethnic Armenians remained in Nagorno-Karabakh. ​

russia’s abandonment: a wake-up call?

For over a century, Armenia treated Russia as its patron and security guarantor. That made sense when Moscow was willing to play that role, but 2020 changed everything.