Week in Review - September 20, 2026

In this week's Groong podcast episode, Hovik and Asbed reflect on Armenia's 35th independence anniversary amid ongoing regional tensions and unresolved conflicts. We discuss the state of Armenian statehood three years after the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, Armenian prisoners of war still held in Baku, rising citizenship costs, government opacity over war casualties, and deepening Turkey-Azerbaijan strategic coordination.

Topics:

• Armenia marks 35 years independent
• Artsakh remembered three years later
• Armenian POWs remain in Baku
• Ukraine strikes deep inside Russia
• Turkey-Azerbaijan deepen strategic coordination
• Citizenship costs rise sharply
• Government opacity over war casualties

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 588 | Recorded: September 22, 2026

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/588

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/dpoM-a445yg

#Armenia #Artsakh #UkraineWar #ArmenianPOWs #Azerbaijan #Turkey #SouthCaucasus #ArmenianPolitics

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Conversations on Groong - September 20, 2026

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Professor Warwick Powell about multipolarity, infrastructure, and the strategic implications of emerging power blocs. We discuss tangible outcomes from the SCO and BRICS summits, the shift toward local-currency settlement and financial alternatives to Western institutions, China's role as an enabling power, and how countries like Armenia navigate the infrastructure competition between TRIPP and competing regional corridors. We also examine AI safety and digital sovereignty in a multipolar world, where both Washington and Beijing view artificial intelligence as a decisive strategic contest.

Topics:

• SCO and BRICS summit outcomes
• BRICS financial architecture and currencies
• AI safety and strategic competition
• AI sovereignty for smaller states

Guest: Warwick Powell

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 587 | Recorded: September 17, 2026

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/587

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/RPkhjzL1URI

#BRICS #China #SCO #Multipolarity #Artificial0Intelligence #AISafety #DigitalSovereignty #TRIPP

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Conversations on Groong - September 17, 2026

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Hrant Mikaelian about chip diplomacy, the TRIPP framework, and Armenia's structural economic vulnerabilities. We discuss how the U.S. fast-tracked advanced AI exports to secure the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process agreement, the massive energy demands of the planned Firebird data center, Armenia's deepening education crisis, and the risks of energy dependence as the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant approaches shutdown.

Topics:

• AI chips tied to TRIPP diplomacy
• Data centers raise major energy questions
• Armenia faces severe education outcomes
• Government reforms versus poor student performance
• Azerbaijan targets Armenian heritage in Artsakh
• Gas dependence exposes Armenia to shocks

Guest: Hrant Mikaelian

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 586 | Recorded: September 16, 2026

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/586

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/IUEgzBPJZ2E

#Armenia #TRIPP #ArtificialIntelligence #EducationCrisis #Artsakh #EnergySecurity #SouthCaucasus #HrantMikaelian

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Week in Review - September 13, 2026

In this Groong Week in Review episode, Hovik and Asbed examine the fourth anniversary of the September 2022 border war, Azerbaijan's ongoing occupation of Armenian territory, and Pashinyan's political trajectory toward recognizing Artsakh's loss. We discuss Hajiyev's inflammatory rhetoric, Armenia's muted diplomatic response, TRIPP and semiconductor sovereignty, Pashinyan's attendance at a Paris space summit, Russian financial flows through Armenia, and Russia-Iran coordination in the South Caucasus.

Topics:

• 2022 border war and its legacy
• Hajiyev spouts hate, EU reps giggle
• Armenia's muted response to Azerbaijan
• TRIPP, NVIDIA chips, and sovereignty
• Pashinyan's Paris space summit visit
• Russian money flows through Armenia
• Russia-Iran coordination in South Caucasus
• Political prosecutions and Grigoryan reshuffle

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 585 | Recorded: September 14, 2026

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/585

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/cVhiM9I1pLQ

#Armenia #Artsakh #Gandzasar #TRIPP #SouthCaucasus #Azerbaijan #Russia #Iran

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Week in Review - September 6, 2026

In this week's Groong episode, Hovik and Asbed review September 2026 developments across Armenia and the South Caucasus. We examine Artsakh's remembered independence declaration on September 2, 1991, and its unresolved cause following the 2023 ethnic cleansing; Putin's signaling on Russia's military base presence; ongoing Armenian Church prosecutions; EU trade negotiations; mounting non-combat military deaths; and political pressures ahead of local elections. We also analyze U.S. envoy Witkoff and Kushner's diplomatic shuttle through Moscow and Kyiv.

Topics:

• Artsakh remembered, its cause unresolved
• Putin puts Russia's military base on the table
• Church prosecutions begin to unravel
• EU trade headlines look better than the deal
• Army indiscipline fuels mounting non-combat deaths
• New political pressures before local elections

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 584 | Recorded: Sep 6, 2026

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/584

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/2mSjTCZ2s6c

#Artsakh #Armenia #NagornoKarabakh #SouthCaucasus #SCO #Russia #EuropeanUnion #ArmenianPolitics

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Conversations on Groong - September 5, 2026

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Suren Sargsyan about the Iran War and great power competition for Armenia's strategic position. We discuss Washington's unclear endgame in the conflict with Iran, the future of Russia's military presence in Armenia and CSTO membership, and competing U.S. and European interests in new east-west transit routes through Armenia and Central Asia amid broader geopolitical rivalries.

Topics:

• U.S. objectives in the Iran war
• Russia's 102nd base in Armenia
• Pashinyan's sovereignty policy contradictions
• Great-power rivalry across Central Asia
• U.S. and EU interests in TRIPP
• Armenia's place in Eurasian competition

Guest: Suren Sargsyan

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 583 | Recorded: Sep 4, 2026

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/583

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/XMhQm0VCALA

#Armenia #IranWar #TRIPP #CentralAsia #Russia #UnitedStates #Geopolitics #SouthCaucasus

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Week in Review - August 30, 2026

In this week's Groong news roundup, Hovik and Asbed examine Armenia's position at the SCO Summit amid intensifying global conflicts. We discuss Russia's escalation in Ukraine, unprecedented Western diplomatic visits to Moscow, the renewed US-Iran War, and Pashinyan's meetings with regional and global leaders including Aliyev and Putin. We also address the ongoing persecution of former Artsakh leaders and the selective justice targeting Armenia's political landscape.

Topics:

• Russia Escalates War Against Ukraine
• Unprecedented Western Visits to Moscow
• US-Iran War Flares Again
• All Artsakh Presidents Behind Bars
• Armenia at the SCO Summit
• Pashinyan Meets Aliyev, Putin, Modi
• Political Persecutions and Selective Justice

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 582 | Recorded: August 31, 2026

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/582

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/PzoUvdhbgvQ

#Armenia #Artsakh #UkraineWar #IranWar #SCO #Pashinyan #SouthCaucasus #ArmenianPolitics

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Conversations on Groong - August 29, 2026

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Arthur G. Martirosyan about Armenia's post-election political crisis and Pashinyan's governance agenda. We discuss the arrest of opposition leaders including Robert Kocharyan, attacks on the Armenian Church, border concessions including Tigranashen, the TRIPP corridor, and how the Established Opposition is strategizing under state repression in the Fourth Republic.

Topics:

• Pashinyan's Revenge Against Opposition
• Kocharyan Arrested, Family Under State Pressure
• Opposition Strategy Under Repression
• Pashinyan's Five-Year Transformation Agenda
• Government Assault on Armenian Church
• Tigranashen and Border Concessions
• TRIPP, Turan, and Central Asia

Guest: Arthur G. Martirosyan

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 581 | Recorded: August 28, 2026

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/581

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/yi7zvxYDcOw

#ArmenianElections #Armenia #NikolPashinyan #CivilContract #StrongArmenia #ArmenianOpposition

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Conversations on Groong - August 28, 2026

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Ambassador Jack Matlock, the last US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, about whether the West missed a historic opportunity to integrate Russia into Western security architecture after the Cold War. We discuss the internal collapse of the Soviet Union, Reagan-Gorbachev diplomacy, NATO expansion and Russian backlash, and how Cold War-era decisions shape Armenia's geopolitical choices today, including Matlock's firsthand observations of Soviet Armenia during glasnost and the Nagorno Karabakh movement.

Topics:

• Recollections from Soviet South Caucasus
• Why the Soviet Union collapsed
• How the Cold War ended
• Reagan and Gorbachev's diplomacy
• America's post-Cold War triumphalism
• NATO expansion and Russian backlash
• Great-power rivalry in the Caucasus
• Armenia's geopolitical choices today

Guest: Jack F. Matlock Jr.

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 580 | Recorded: Aug 27, 2026

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/580

#JackMatlock #ColdWar #SovietUnion #Reagan #Gorbachev #NATO #Russia #SouthCaucasus #Armenia

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Conversations on Groong - August 21, 2026

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Dziunik Aghajanian about Armenia's precarious position between Iran, Russia, and emerging Middle East power shifts. We discuss the Mecca joint defense pact signed by Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, Iran's warnings over TRIPP, Ilham Aliyev's militarization plans in Nakhijevan, Armenia's growing energy dependence, Russian deadlines for Yerevan, and how the Established Opposition is testing its parliamentary strategy ahead of the 2026 Armenian Parliamentary Election.

Topics:

• Significance of the Mecca joint defense pact
• Iran warns Armenia over TRIPP
• Aliyev advances plans through Syunik
• Armenia faces growing energy dependence
• Russia sets deadlines for Yerevan
• Opposition tests its parliamentary strategy

Guest: Dziunik Aghajanian

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 579 | Recorded: August 18, 2026

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/579

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/IMBbyU0ffvk

#Armenia #SouthCaucasus #Mecca #TRIPP #Iran #Russia #Azerbaijan #EAEU #CSTO

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