Being small in a large club: unpacking Armenia’s actorness in the Eurasian Economic union

ABSTRACTThis article examines Armenia’s agency in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). It argues that, despite being the smallest member and facing huge power asymmetry inside the organization, Armenia has been able to influence the decision-making in the EAEU in numerous ways. The research will examine three different strategies Armenia used to protect its interests: a) instrumentalizing the opportunities emanating from the institutional settings of the organization, b) negotiating exemptions from the EAEU legislation and securing core interests in the external relations of the union, and c) promoting specific ideas with the purpose of tailoring EAEU’s policy in a particular field to its economic needs.KEYWORDS: ArmeniaEurasian Economic Unionsmall statesdecision-makingintegration Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. The second reading of the amendment is pending, as of writing.2. To compare, the EAEU granted Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan 200 and 3500 exemptions, respectively (as cited in Dragneva and Wolczuk Citation2017, 22).3. In addition to Serbia and Iran, the EAEU membership provided Armenia with a more favourable access to major East and South-East Asian economies: the EAEU concluded FTAs with Singapore and Vietnam and the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation with China (Eurasian Economic Commission Citation2023c, 3, 6–7).Additional informationFundingThe first phase of the research was conducted at the Center for Eastern European Studies at the University of Zurich as part of the fellowship program funded by the University of Zurich and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) of Switzerland.Notes on contributorsErik DavtyanErik Davtyan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy at Yerevan State University. His research interests include small state studies, regional politics in the South Caucasus, theories of international relations and foreign policy analysis. His articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Caucasus Survey and Problems of Post-Communism.