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07.05.2015

ARMENIAN STUDIES IN THE SYSTEM OF NATIONAL SECURITY

   

Gagik A. Harutyunyan
Executive Director, Noravank Scientific Educational Foundation

Armenian Studies constitute a certain area of academic research. Branches of Armenian Studies - history, literature, architecture, etc., are manifestations of our civilizational identity, which in turn had brought new content to our system of values (and continue doing so) that are the basic components of the national security system. Thus, Armenian Studies are essentially a national civilizational and state-building discipline.

Admittedly, such interpretation of Armenian Studies suggests a deeper application of the discipline’s concepts and results in education system, as well as practical/political affairs1, which may have a positive impact in the area of modern national political thought. This cause-and-effect relationship explains the fact that to date there are only few interdisciplinary researches juxtaposing and combining the fields of Armenian Studies (or for that matter, any other scientific disciplines) and politics. Yet, this would have allowed not only uncovering the commonalities between the fields, but also developing their complementation mechanisms and application formats.

Given the challenges that Armenian society has to face [both of our states - the Republic of Armenia (RA) and the Artsakh Republic (NKR) - are in no war, no peace situation; Armenian communities in the Near East are at the verge of extinction due to geopolitical developments and generally there are many problems in diaspora], such statement of problem appears quite critical. With the mentioned realities in mind some observations of the said problems are presented here below, with a prior brief deliberation on some of the modern and significantly expanded views on national security.

It is obvious that the Armenian Information security system must include the complex of information problems concerning not only Armenia [this concept, in terms of information, assumes the RA, the NKR and Javakhk], but also Armenians living all over the world – in diaspora2.

In terms of informational organization of Armeniancy the following fundamental favorable factors exist3:

The idea of the Motherland and the existence of the RA and the NKR
The idea of the Armenian unique civilization
The memoires of the Armenian Genocide and the Hay Dat (Armenian Cause)

In the area of security the highest priority is currently assigned to the safety, effective setup and development of the society’s spiritual/intellectual resources. In this context the traditional approaches to and definitions of warfare have changed: presently the politics and strategies are carried out mainly through the so-called “soft power” and “information warfare” which is part of the former. It has to be noted in this regard that spiritual/cultural issues are encompassed in the information security, which in turn is a component of the national security.

It is known that the theory of information warfare and methods employed in it have qualitatively evolved in the recent period. The so-called “second generation” network information warfare is worth mentioning, which pursues the following main objectives.

- to disintegrate the adversary’s social/moral bases and the system of values,

- to impose own cultural code in the consciousness of the adversary’s (or sometimes even the ally’s) society through manipulative technologies.

Armenia and the Armeniancy are involved in such warfare for some well-known reasons, and in these terms are in the risk zone. In such conditions our intellectual and political elite must develop a strategy adequate to the existing challenges, which should take into account the following circumstances.

Security doctrines usually assign key importance to the protection of so-called “critical infrastructures,” construed as the most essential military/political, socio-economic and information structures, incapacitation of which leads to a failure of the whole security system. We contend that the status of “critical infrastructure” must be assigned to the systems and structures that safeguard spiritual/intellectual development, as their failure may lead to demoralization of the society. Such approach is currently gaining ground in the world4 and it appears, such an approach may be used in Armenia as well5.

The perception of the system of values in the society is not a static category, since it changes depending on the historical, military/political developments, as well as evolutionally or revolutionary ones. Today it is substantially influenced by printed and electronic mass media through widely spread, targeted and/or supposedly chaotic information flows, which to a considerable extent form the global community’s way of thinking, mindset and hence, also the system of values.

Obviously, the Armenian system of values with its civilizational traits is one of the cornerstones that ensured our national/historical continuity. At the same time, it has to be noted that study of the problems in this area requires consideration of certain peculiarities of our history of the last hundred years.

The Armenian Genocide and loss of the Western Armenia have deeply and tragically impacted the psychology and worldview of our society, especially the diaspora. The diaspora part of the Armeniancy is also characterized by the fact that they undergo not only intra-ethnic or global influences, but also national/civilizational ones specific to the countries of their residence. Armenia’s society has its peculiarities, too.

As a result of geopolitical processes of the last two centuries this part of the Armeniancy has changed the socio-ideological environment of its social being several times. This has led to considerable, sometimes controversial, substantive transformations in the approaches to the society’s system of values.

In particular, after the Bolshevik “terror” and repressions in 1920-30s and at the end of 1940s, the communist concepts imposed on the society of the Soviet Armenian republic (the Second republic) gradually transformed over time and became more or less coherent to the ideas of the national system of values. Yet currently, a significant part of the society is at odds with the liberal ideology concepts that were imposed this time through socio-economic “shock therapy” during the period, which can be called “an era of vulgar liberalism”, still continuing today to a greater or lesser degree. It must be noted that contrary to it, since the last decades of the 20th century there have been important positive impulses in the national ideological worldviews influenced greatly by the 1965 events related to the Armenian Genocide commemoration and ensuing Karabakh movement, which resulted in the victory of the Armenian people in the Artsakh liberation war against aggressive Azerbaijan.

The study of the public’s system of values is currently viewed as a crucial matter, and for example, World Values Survey (WVS)6, an international organization, conducts extensive studies around the world. The research outcomes are used in making both economic and political decisions and particularly, the so-called “color revolution” technologies are anchored on knowledge of socio-psychological characteristics of a given society. The research conducted by the mentioned organization suggests that the population of Armenia is in the cultural domain of the South Asian and ex-Communist countries, where traditional and survival values prevail.

Currently studies of values system in Armenia are conducted by the Chair of Psychology at the Yerevan State University. Also, impacts of the information environment on the system of values are studied at the Noravank Foundation7. However, it is evident that the activities implemented in this area are not sufficient and furthermore, are far from gaining applied significance. Such situation often causes controversial comments in the political-information arena, which in no way contributes to the establishment of an effective national security system and implementation of relevant political strategies8.

It has be especially emphasized that a closer relationship between Armenian Studies and the policies, as well as their practical use seem impossible without an appropriate information policy, and this is applicable also to other problems unrelated to the system of values.

In particular, if the information coverage of our history’s Soviet period were to be examined, it would become clear that there are serious problems directly related to one of the fundamental laws of the information security - preservation of an unbroken chain of history and national memory. Societies that lose their historical base are most prone to information/psychological influences, and in this regard it is pertinent to quote a Chinese proverb: “Forgetting history means betrayal”.

The views on the Second republic voiced in the information space bear mainly “tragic” or “sarcastic” overtones and remind the Bolshevik style, when anything related to the First republic had to be condemned. Perhaps Carl Schmitt was right, contending that “philosophical paradigms of Marxism and liberal ideological/economic demonism are the same”9.

It should be unambiguously stated that we are not going to idealize the USSR: the Soviet system was established in the worst traditions of revolutionary terror, terror against their own nation (for various reasons and without them) which had lasted till Stalin’s death in 1953. It has to be clearly realized that history of any country is not just that of its political regime, but also the history of its society and people. In this context it must be admitted that the Armenian society took its share of political, military and revolutionary calamities with high dignity. Boris Kagarlitsky, a prominent intellectual and political scientist, who, incidentally, is a former prisoner of Mordovian labor camps, has noticed felicitously that disparaging the Soviet history is first of all a betrayal of the memory of the Soviet regime’s victims10. It is very important not to go to extremities and for virtual reanimation of the “chiefs of revolution and peoples”; rehabilitation of the totalitarianism is very dangerous and can affect the society. But it is necessary to develop the logistics of a sensible information policy, gradually correct the vocabulary and return our history to the definite information niche.

On May 28, 1918 (after the victorious heroic battles against the invading Turkish troops) the independent Republic of Armenia [with capital city Yerevan (ancient Erebuni)] was proclaimed, which signified restoration of the Armenian statehood (rooted in millennia-old Armenian history in the Armenian Highland) in a very difficult internal and external political and economic conditions. Two and a half years later the Kemalists unleashed the war against the First Republic of Armenia. In the political turmoil the government of RA resigned and the first independent Republic of Armenia ceased to exist. As far as assessment of the Second republic is concerned, it is necessary to remember that despite its negative and tragic aspects (territorial losses in 1921 and human losses during the following three decades as a result of political repressions11), the Armenian SSR, particularly in 1960-1980, created a powerful scientific, technological and industrial system, experienced demographic growth, formed a creative society with high cultural, educational and moral levels. For instance, in late 1980s there were 30,000 scientific personnel in Armenia, whereas now their number is about 6000. In 1984 total 200 inventions were introduced for application in economy12.

No attempt is made here to idealize our not so distant past, as it makes no sense to idealize or demonize any historical period. It has to be understood that the First republic was the basis of the Second one, which in its turn paved the way to the Third republic, and this must be interpreted and dealt with accordingly. In evaluating national history, the institutional legacy factor must be taken into account. Other approaches may, for example, make the state/political institutions appear younger than they actually are. For example, some time ago billboards appeared that read: “Armenian Army is 20 years old”, while in fact our army has a history of many thousands of years. Based on the millennia-old Armenian military art and the best patriotic traditions, Armenian Army has been restored during the heroic battles of the victorious Artsakh liberation war.

Many issues require joint political/governmental and academic/expert discussions aimed at finding solutions for the problems under consideration. From the point of view of information security Armenian Studies are important in research, elaboration, systematization and education of millennia-old history of Armenian civilizational and national values, rooted in creative activities of the Armenian people and their application in cultural and educational, political and governmental spheres in the RA and the NKR, as well as Motherland-Diaspora interrelations for the benefit of the national security of the whole Armenian nation.

1 Հարությունյան Գ., Հայագիտության ազգային ռազմավարության որոշ դրույթներ, «Գլոբուս», #1(9), 2007, էջ 3:

2 RA National Security Strategy, Yerevan, 2007.

3 Harutyunyan G., Information Problems of Organization of Armeniancy. - See in: The Main Issues of Western Armeniancy’s Claims (International research and political conference), Cyprus, Nicosia, April 18-19, Collestion of Conference Papers, 2008, p. 168.

4 See: Гриняев С., О взгляде на проблему безопасности критической инфраструктуры в государстве Израиль, http://www.csef.ru/index.php/ru/component/csef/project/-/-/-?id=3229.

5 Harutyunyan G., Armenian Studies as “Critical Infrastructure”, «21-րդ ԴԱՐ», 2013, N 6; Հարությունյան Գ., Հայագիտությունը որպես անվտանգության «կրիտիկական ենթակառուցվածք» - Հայագիտությունը և արդի ժամանակաշրջանի մարտահրավերները. Հայագիտական միջազգային երկրորդ համաժողովի զեկուցումների ժողովածու, Երևան, 2014, էջ 512-515:

6 See http://worldvaluessurvey.org

7 See, for example, Իդեոլոգեմները ՀՀ տեղեկատվական տարածքում, Երևան, «Նորավանք» ԳԿՀ, 2013:

8 Հարությունյան Գ., Ինտեգրացիայի որոշ հիմնախնդիրների մասին արժեքային համակարգի համատեքստում, Գլոբուս, 2013, 4(37), էջ 20:

9 Шмитт К., Политическая теология, М., 2000.

10 Кагарлицкий Б., Политология революции, М., 2007.

11 Մանուկյան Ա., Քաղաքական բռնաճնշումները Հայաստանում 1920-1953 թթ.,Երևան, 1999։

12 Арутюнян Г., Распад системы и формирование будущего, НОФ «Нораванк», Ереван, 2011.


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