Anastas Mikoyan, an Armenian Reformer in Khrushchev’s Kremlin

Dr. Pietro Shakarian explains the core arguments and new archival findings behind his book on Anastas Mikoyan. We cover Mikoyan’s effort to devolve power inside the USSR during Khrushchev’s constitutional reform drive, what a confederal model could have meant, and why it stalled. We discuss Mikoyan’s role in Armenia’s cultural thaw, including rehabilitations tied to his 1954 Yerevan speech. Shakarian details his research trail across Russian and Armenian archives, 1960s Artsakh petitions, Mikoyan’s stance toward the Armenian Church, and how his Armenian identity surfaced during Cold War crises.

Topics

• Research journey, archives Moscow and Yerevan
• Mikoyan’s vision of confederation for the USSR
• Artsakh’s status within Soviet constraints
• De-Stalinization and Armenia’s cultural thaw
• Mikoyan’s stance toward the Armenian Church

Guest

• Pietro Shakarian

Hosts

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Key Questions Discussed

• How far did Khrushchev’s reforms move the USSR toward a confederation, and why did it fail in practice
• What “radical devolution of powers” would mean for union and republic relations
• Which Armenian writers and officials were affected by post-Stalin rehabilitations
• What new evidence from Moscow and Yerevan archives changes prior scholarship
• How Mikoyan’s Armenian identity and stance toward the Church shaped decisions and relationships

Referenced Articles and Sources

• Anastas Mikoyan, an Armenian Reformer in Khrushchev’s Kremlin – Amazon
• Prior Groong episode with Pietro Shakarian (Episode 28)

Episode 480 | Recorded: October 18, 2025

https://podcasts.groong.org/480

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