The Confessional Space of Armenia: Factors of Structure Transformation

For Russia, the South Caucasus is a region of strategic importance; its stability influences directly the security of the North Caucasus because the two areas are parts of the indivisible geopolitical whole - the Greater Caucasus. Consequently, in order to guarantee its security, Russia has to find means and forms of overcoming the conflicts existing in the region: due to the linked conflicts phenomenon, the effective resolution of the conflicts is possible only in complex. The autochthonous conflict potential of the region worsens due to the presence of foreign players. After the breakdown of the Soviet Union, the USA and the EU received the opportunity to penetrate into the region. They do all they can to save and strengthen their positions here, and any Russian policy in the region contradicts their interests. In this article, the authors analyze the situation in the public sphere of Armenia that became the object of the US and EU public diplomacy. Analyzing the factors of the transformation of the structure of Armenia's confessional space, the authors try to summarize the western countries' actions taken towards the social and cultural transformation of Armenia in order to include it in their own sphere of influence. The aim of the article is to analyze the factors of transformation of the structure of confessional space of Armenia. The material of the research include legal acts of Armenia, EU, Russia and USA. The main methods used during the work on the article were general scientific methods, analysis and synthesis, giving the general idea of the object of the research; induction and deduction were used to work with the legal acts; the historical method was used to research the phenomenon in its development; the network approach was used to analyze the phenomenon's current condition. As a result of the research, the authors present several conclusions. Firstly, after Armenia got its independence in 1991, its public sphere became the subject of EU and USA public diplomacy: many different laical and religious organizations of the global civil society appeared in the country. Secondly, these organizations spread non-traditional values, engage Armenian citizens in their actions, which results in the formation of a group of people, especially among the youth, dissatisfied with the current order in the country. Thirdly, people engaged in the activity of new religious movements that appeared in Armenia after the breakdown of the Soviet Union become the instruments of foreign players because all the new religious movements, except for the Armenian Evangelistic Church, have foreign origins that give the foreign players an opportunity to rule some processes in the Armenian society. In particular, 12% of the population, a significant part of voters, are connected with new religious movements.

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