ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the political rhetoric of post-Soviet Armenian leaders on the country's geopolitics and its foreign relations with regional and world powers was, first of all, disconnected from their subsequent policies. The adoption of certain foreign policies was used to seek power legitimation that was to be acquired not domestically, but elsewhere. Before engaging in an analysis of how the Ter-Petrosyan, Kocharyan, Sargsyan's 'pro-Armenianism' political administrations of post-Soviet Armenia sought to balance the 'new' Armenia between the East and West, the chapter provides an overview of its relations with Russia, the United States, European Union, Iran and Georgia. The pro-Russian orientation is conditioned by the geopolitical factors such as the military stand-off with Azerbaijan and Russia's interest in the region. In Ter-Petrosyan's strategy of balancing the political axes, the Turkish dimension played a significant role. His administration counted significantly on an open border with Turkey and securing a way out into the West and away from Russia.
