Aren Saakyan is a fourth year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto where he is pursuing and Honors Double Major in International Relations and History. He is fluent in both Russian and Armenian. His research interests include growing religious conservatism in the east in opposition to secular western society along with political and social developments in Russia and the former Soviet Union, particularly the Caucasus.
As ISIL expands its control over Iraq, Aren Saakyan argues that the consequences of supporting the Syrian Opposition will be much greater for the United States than the costs of supporting the Taliban during the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Aren Saakyan discusses possible solutions to the endangered pan-European identity.
Aren Saakyan argues that tolerance in Europe has been declining along with the economy.
