Armenian Journal of Political Science

ISSN 1829-4286 Armenian Journal of Political Science 1 2014 Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences Center of Pespective Researches and Initiatives EDITORIAL BOARD Tigran Torosyan (Editor) Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences, Armenia Aleksander Abramyan Military Academy, Slovakia Sergiu Chelak Romanian Institute of International Studies, Romania Yuri Gasparyan Armenian State Pedagogical University Jerzy Jaskiernia Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland Andrey Medushevsky Higher School of Economics, National Research University, Russia Talin Ter Minasian INALCO, France Karlen Mirumyan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences Anna Ohanyan Stonehill College, USA Rainer Schulze University of Essex, United Kingdom Levon Shirinyan Armenian State Pedagogical University Victor Soghomonyan Yerevan State University of Languages and Social Sciences, Armenia Albert Stepanyan Yerevan State University, Armenia Levon Zeqiean Venetian Institute of Oriental Studies, Italy ISSN 1829-4286 © Center of Pespective Researches and Initiatives , 2014 Table of Contents TO THE AUTHORS OF ARJPS 4 POST-SOVIEST TRANSFORMATION Tigran Torosyan, Arax Vardanyan Development Paradigm for the Post-Communist Countries in Higher 5 Education and Political Science Anna Ohanyan Frozen Conflicts or Frozen Governance? A Role for the Bologna 23 Process in Conflict Regions Rainer Shulze Higher Educaton Without Discrimination: The Bologna Process and 37 European Values Tigran Torosyan, Hayk Sukiasyan Three Stages, Three Groups and Three Paradigms of Post-Soviet 51 Transformation Lusine Poghosyan Optimisation Problems of the Multiparty System’s Institutionalisation 63 in Post-Soviet States Benjamin James Barnard Economy Versus Ecology: A Human Rights Perspective on the 81 Proposed Cooper Mine in Teghut FORMATION OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER: REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS Aghavni Harutyunyan The “Arab Spring” as a New Challenge and a New Opportunity for 105 China’s Middle East Policy Aram Terzyan Normative and Political Dimensions of the European Union’s Energy 129 Policiy: The Case of the South Caucasus TO THE AUTHORS OF ARJPS The Armenian Journal of Political Science (ARJPS) strives to publish scholarly research of exceptional merit, focusing on important issues (in particular, Post-Soviet Transformation, State Building, Democratization and Human Rights, Conflict Resolution, Reconciliation Processes, National Identity and International Integration, New World Order, South Caucasus in the Geopolitical Struggle etc.) and demonstrating the highest standards of excellence in conceptualization, exposition and methodology. Authors must demonstrate how their analysis illuminates a significant research problem, or answer an important research question, of general interest on political science. Authors must strive for a presentation that will be understandable to as many scholars as possible, consistent with the nature of their material. The ARJPS publishes original works. Therefore, authors should not submit articles containing tables, figures, or substantial amounts of text that have already been published or are forthcoming in other places, or that have been included in other manuscripts submitted for review to book publishers or periodicals (including on- line journals). Address: Yerevan, Toumanyan 42, YSULS, Room 202 Tel: 530272-208 E-mail: [email protected] www.arjps.org Armenian Journal of Political Science 1(1) 2014, 5-22 5 POST-SOVIET TRANSFORMATION Development Paradigm for the Post-Communist Countries in Higher Education and Political Science* TIGRAN TOROSYAN Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences, Armenia ARAX VARDANYAN Center of Perspective Researches and Initiatives, Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences, Armenia Received 23.06.2014 Accepted 17.12.2014 The article explores the development of political science and higher education in Post-Communist countries. Comparative analysis of the conditions necessary for the creation of contemporary research universities, as well as the human and financial resources of these countries shows that in Post-Communist countries it is almost impossible to form such universities especially in the social sciences. However, the implementation of the paradigm, suggested in the article, will provide an opportunity to overcome the complicated situation, conditioned by scarce human and financial resources. Keywords Post-Communist Countries, democratisation, political science, higher education, paradigm. After the collapse of the USSR, assessments regarding the development of post-Soviet countries during the early of 1990’s of the former century were highly optimistic. They were viewed within the framework of the third wave of democratisation and it was assumed that democratic regimes would be established in all post-Communist countries 1. However, further developments demonstrated the existence of an *This is the revised and expanded text of a paper given on 28 June 2014 at the international conference ‘Education Without Discrimination: Bologna Context’ in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. 1 Huntington S. The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman and London, University of Oklahoma Press. 1991. 6 Tigran Torosyan, Arax Vardanyan unprecedented and an extremely complicated process resultant from all systems (political, economic, scientific, educational, social, etc.) being destroyed. Those countries appeared in a systemic crisis, and a system transformation of social relations was required. 2 The problem was further complicated by the circumstance that the values, knowledge and experience that were in the basis of the previous systems had become useless. Since the Communist ideology rejected pluralism, post-Communist societies did not have the knowledge and experience necessary for the formation of new systems and had to form systems quite unfamiliar to them. Therefore, the successful realisation of post-Communist transformation required efficient combination of two processes: formation of new systems and appropriation of new knowledge. Obviously, during the solution of such a complex task, the system of education and science receive a system-building mission. Not only does the quality of science and education but also the efficiency of processes taking place in other spheres depend on the outcome of the ongoing reforms in this system, because professionals – based on whose knowledge and skills reforms in other areas are developed and applied – are to be raised in the scientific-educational field. Therefore, the most challenging problem referred to the interrelated spheres of science and higher education. It had a two-fold essence. First, structural transformation of these spheres was required, making them compatible to Western institutions and processes because in the USSR, scientific and educational systems principally differed from the Western systems. This means that while the spheres of exact sciences were able to be confined to structural and procedural transformation, the sphere of social sciences also required content transformation because in Soviet years, for ideological reasons, representatives of those spheres did not have access to the Western systems, theories and studies. Therefore, the problems existing in the spheres of education and social sciences not only hinder the development of those spheres but also seriously complicate the solution to problems in other spheres. A closed vicious circle has emerged. The extreme shortage of professionals in the sphere of social sciences in post-Communist countries (along with a few other factors, which will be expressed below) does not afford an opportunity to ensure high-quality higher education in that sphere, which in its turn, does not give a chance of preparing highly qualified 2 Torosyan T., Post-Soviet Transformation of Social System, Yerevan, ‘Tigran Mets’ Publising Hous, 2006. (in Armenian) Armenian Journal of Political Science 1(1) 2014, 5-22 7 specialists of the required number to ensure the development of both social sciences (in particular, political science) and the country. At the same time, the flawed economic situation in those countries, and, consequent financial restraint, do not afford opportunity to involve highly qualified foreign professionals of the required number. When solving such complex issues, the cooperation and integration with the societies and institutions that have the necessary experience and knowledge gain exceptional importance. 3 In this regard, the integration in the European Higher Education Area and the participation in the Bologna Process are of key importance for post- Communist countries. Bologna Process as an External Dimension of Higher Education Systems Reforms in Post-Comunist Countries Although, the Bologna Process was founded for increasing the efficiency of the European higher education area – which has proven its viability – and in order to face the challenges under the conditions of globalisation, the process also creates ample opportunities for countries that face challenges stemming from post-Communist transformation. It is no coincidence that, when adopting the Bologna Declaration, the founders stated that “the importance of education and educational cooperation in the development and strengthening of stable, peaceful and democratic societies is universally acknowledged as paramount, the more so in view of the situation in South East Europe” 4. There is a group among those countries, where the aforementioned highly

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