Wednesday, March 3, the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) will feature Rouben Shougarian’s “West of Eden, East of the Chessboard: Four Philosophical Looks Upon the Unknown” book presentation.

Shougarian draws on literary criticisms, allegories, American literature and his own political experiences to offer a new twist on the age old liberty versus freedom debate. “West of Eden, East of the Chessboard” considers the sociological and philosophical causes behind the contemporary American political mind-set and role of human will in decision-making, some aspects of European evolution, and the genesis of national characters and idiosyncrasies.

Rouben Shougarian was the first Armenian Ambassador to the United States (1993-1999), Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia (1999-2005) and Ambassador to Italy, Spain and Portugal (2005-2008). He currently teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts.