CHAPTER 1. TRANSITION PERIOD: SHORT- OR LONG- TERM PROSPECTS FOR ARMENIA?

The term "transition period" is used to denote the time-span during which political, structural and institutional reforms are carried out, aimed at the creation of a democratic society with market relations. That period started in Armenia in 1990-1991 when the first non-communist Government began to operate and the downfall of the USSR occurred.

The demise of the USSR as well as the disintegration of the socialist bloc introduced a new scholarly term and new classification criteria into the international thesaurus, viz. the countries with transitional economies. According to basic parameters, both the USSR as a whole and its constituent Republics were among the developed countries of the world. In particular, based on the 1990 data Armenia, judging by the human development index was ranked 47^th among the most advanced countries¹, which was quite a remarkable accomplishment. However, only a few years later many of these Republics found themselves ranked in the second hundred, with a developing country status.

The social and political transformations that occurred in that period are construed as a transition from totalitarianism to democracy. However, such an assessment is rather hasty and one-sided. For some countries that process was indeed so, in others it led to the emergence of regimes similar to dictatorships. Some Republics (including Armenia) ended up in an ambiguous position, since having an ostensibly pro-Western orientation, they were not able yet to get rid of totalitarian influences. What matters here is a free choice made by those countries as to what niche they are going to occupy on the political map of the world.