Vartan Oskanian's book “Speaking To Be Heard: A Decade of Speeches” has just been published in English and Armenian.

The book is a selection of nearly one hundred speeches that reflect Armenia’s re-emergence on the world stage and documents the history of the post-Soviet period for a world seeking a new order.

These speeches are born of his conviction that positive developments in Armenia and effective engagement abroad depend on Armenia’s willingness and ability to advance beyond national issues and engage fully in matters of regional and global urgency.The collection reflects this commitment.

The volume is edited by Salpi Ghazarian, director of the Civilitas Foundation, and Vartan Oskanian’s special assistant in the Foreign Ministry from 2000 to 2008.

The book is available in English and Armenian through local bookstores, as well as Amazon. In the US, the distributor is the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research www.naasr.org. In Armenia, the distributor is ArtBridge Bookstore Cafe www.artbridge.am.

Read Introduction of the book

This publication is intended to be an annual overview of the political and economic situation in Armenia, as well as those global and regional developments that affect Armenia and the region. 2008 began with a political campaign season, moved on to the presidential election in February, then the tragic events of March, which colored all subsequent domestic political and social processes for the rest of the year. Economically, expectations were that 2008 would be a difficult year in which to try to sustain the double-digit growth of years past and begin to make some real headway in reducing economic disparities by introducing second generation reforms. Those expectations were fulfilled and compounded when the US financial crisis mushroomed into a global emergency that also infected Armenia.

Full report