The ARAR Civilizational Research Foundation, within the framework of the Newmag & Friends program, presented the book Comprehensive Security. Historian and international relations expert Eduard Abrahamyan and political scientist Gevorg Melikyan analyze the main flaws and vulnerabilities of Armenia’s current security models, noting that the existing security architecture has failed in its primary mission—protecting the strategic interests of the state.
The book was published with a grant from the ARAR Foundation. The authors conducted a year of thematic studies in Armenia and abroad to better understand the strategic thinking and experience of small states in this field.
In his opening speech, David Pakhchanyan, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the ARAR Foundation, spoke about the book’s significance:
“This book highlights a simple but often forgotten truth: security is not just the concern of the military or security structures. It is a comprehensive system involving public resilience, technological advancement, economic power, and the protection of state and national interests—centered on the maximized mobilization of public institutions, state systems, and the whole society.”
The two co-authors presented their research. Political scientist and co-author Gevorg Melikyan emphasized that especially after the 2020 war, it became clear that the multifaceted attacks on Armenia were essentially wars without gunfire—hybrid wars:
“Our book includes an introduction and three chapters. In the introduction, we explain why Armenia’s security system failed. We put the security issues into context and discussed its flaws without focusing solely on the April or 44-day wars. We analyzed the general mistakes, identified unresolved issues, and highlighted the political elite’s misunderstanding of strategic security planning. There were also personnel errors, and collaboration between state and non-state structures was ineffective. There are systemic problems. The political strategy of the last 30+ years did not meet the challenges, failed to develop internal resources, and underestimated neighboring countries’ potential. The lack of an intelligence system was also a major obstacle.”
The other co-author, historian and international relations expert Eduard Abrahamyan, noted that they attempted to define a potential security system for Armenia and presented its theoretical and philosophical foundations:
“Different countries have unique models. The comprehensive security model shares a core element—an attitude toward power and its accumulation. Power is the currency of international relations or the ‘mother’s milk’ of states. We conceptualized power as a metric for internal state behavior. We also provided our definition of a comprehensive security system, and in Armenia’s case, we adopted a constructivist approach. Security is not limited to military action. It also includes prevention, defense, and offense. A comprehensive security system is the backbone of the state.”
At the end of the presentation, the authors answered questions from attendees and heard their feedback on the book.