L’aide US à l’Azerbaïdjan (100 millions de $) pour la “sécurité”
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The news you read last week that the US Government Accountability Office has been asked to explain a $100 million security aid for Azerbaijan? It started at the Institute.
Emil Sanamyan, editor of the Institute’s FOCUS ON KARABAKH page, wrote "US Allocates $100 million in Security Aid to Azerbaijan in 2018-19" in July 2019. The Institute created this page immediately after the April 2016 4-day Karabakh war when we determined that what the Institute could do in the face of this challenge to peace and survival was obvious (to us, anyway) – we would initiate research that could lead to policy.
Emil Sanamyan, a Nagorno Karabakh and Caucasus analyst based in Washington D.C., is uniquely positioned to unpack current events as he follows the work of governments (including the US government) on the peace process, understands the details, nuances, history, and background of this conflict AND follows information from Russia, Azerbaijan as well as Armenia and Karabakh. Since 2016, Emil has written hundreds of pieces on aspects of life in Artsakh, and the conflict, in ways that no one else has.
In July 2019, he noticed unusually high aid allocations for Azerbaijan – more than $100 million over 2 years – and wrote about this on Focus on Karabakh. In Armenia, CivilNet picked it up, as did Azerbaijani and Russian media. The data was based on notices that the Administration sent to Congress in 2018 and 2019 but had gone unnoticed by the Armenian community. Two months later, there was a letter from four members of Congress to the Pentagon asking about the aid. The latest development – Sen. Menendez asking the Government Accountability Office to investigate this aid program – is the result of advocacy by Armenian American organizations, sparked by the Institute's work.
It’s been a hard news month. But also a hopeful one. From biological threats to man-made injustices, knowledge and advocacy hand-in-hand can change our world. The Institute is part of that change-making – and knowledge-sharing.
First with #MyArmenianStory. Do you still think it’s a good idea, and you still haven’t done anything? Join the information session this Thursday, June 18 at noon using this link.
And, here are some podcasts that are examples of the Institute’s continuing commitment to creating and sharing knowledge https://armenian.usc.edu/podcasts/.
