The Regional Studies Center (RSC) held a special briefing on 23 January, offering a special assessment of the upcoming Armenian presidential election. The briefing presentation focused on five specific aspects of the Armenian pre-election situation: (1) general pre-election observations; (2) an analysis of the election campaign; (3) an identification of five specific election challenges; (4) implications from the election; and (5) election surprises.

Summary: The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) released its annual “Human Rights and Democracy Report” highlighting the UK’s human rights policies and concerns on key issues, and features 28 Countries of Concern where the FCO has the most serious wide-ranging human rights concerns. 

“Human Rights and Democracy: The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) Annual Report”

Summary: Syria’s conflict gives its Kurdish population an opening to rectify historic wrongs and push for more autonomy, but facing internal divisions, poor ties with the non-Kurdish opposition and regional rivalries, its challenge is to articulate clear, unified and achievable demands.  Syria’s Kurds: A Struggle within a Struggle, the latest International Crisis Group report, examines the growing influence of Kurdish factions in Syria while warning against entanglement in the broader regional battle over Kurdish independence.

“Syria’s Kurds: A Struggle within a Struggle”

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