Armenia and the US Need New Impetus in Their Relations

• 07.04.2017, 12:51
• Liana Hovhannisyan
•  America,  World,  Armenia

Since the election of the US new president and the transfer of the power from the Democrats to the Republicans, it is high time for Armenia to demonstrate an initiative to mutually consider new formats of cooperation that will further deepen the existing relations between the two countries. A step towards this will be organizing bilateral high level meetings. It would be ideal if as a result of those meetings the sides sign a memorandum, which will signal a new stage of the cooperation between them.

High-level meetings at this period of time is of special importance, taking into consideration also the fact that Armenia is passing from a presidential system of governance to the parliamentary one.

In this context it would be more than natural that during those meetings among other issues the sides also discuss, as well as initiate steps for further deepening the parliamentary connections between the two countries. The sides can make initial arrangements for the new format of cooperation between, for example, the ruling parties, which will assume regular meetings of the party representatives with a clearly defined cooperation agenda. In the context of the parliamentary diplomacy, the cooperation in the framework of the US-Armenian friendship group should also be activated.

On the other hand, the cooperation at the executive level can be boosted by stronger connections between various ministries, which can be achieved by establishing a regular format of meetings between the US and Armenian counterparts (for example once a year).  

Thus to further boost the US-Armenia relations, the cooperation at different levels should become even more active. This also refers to the cooperation with the local-governing bodies, such as with the US separate states, cities, etc.

Finally, taking into consideration the so-far demonstrated tendency of Trump’s team in their foreign policy, Armenia, in its relations with the US, should focus on the aspects of cooperation which are of mutual interests for both sides and are not only based on the assistance programs.