Sitting on Two Chairs: Armenia’s Foreign Policy Through the Lenses of National Roles and Small State Status-Seeking

By reconciling role theory with the concept of status-seeking, this article examines the national roles and international status Armenia has pursued in its foreign policy. While role theory helps to understand state behaviour, the concept of status-seeking illuminates why a particular role is important for small states. Rather than viewing national roles as static phenomena, this study shows that they are dynamic and can merge into new roles. It argues that the choice, transformation and merger of the national roles and international status pursued by Armenia is a function of exogenous factors.