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ARMENIA – DIASPORA: NEW CHALLENGES

Gagik Harutyunyan

Resume

A brief overview suggests that the realities formed under the current “cold war” and changing world order negatively influence Armenia and Diaspora. It is also possible that at some point the global developments will start posing a direct threat to our national security. However, as it happened a century ago, the Armenian public and its elite tend to pay little attention to development of national strategies and forecasting. In order to start solving the problems accumulated in this area, it is necessary to establish think-tanks with relevant profile with participation of leading experts of Armenia and Diaspora.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: AN IMPERATIVE FOR POLITICAL RECONCEPTUALIZATION A CENTURY AFTER THE MEDZ YEGHERN

Aleksandr Manasyan

Resume

Yeghern - the Genocide of Armenians in their homeland - only recently became a subject for open political discussion, after decades of silence. Numerous facts, concepts and statements concerning Yeghern (The Armenian Genocide) await new interpretation. On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide we draw the attention of the world community to some of these facts. The principal conclusion of this analysis stems from the concept according to which the widely held and publicized formula of “The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923” does not fully reflect the factual and political content of this crime against humanity. In particular, the massacres of the Armenians in Transcaucasia in 1918 and 1920 escaped the corpus delicti of the crime of genocide. The international political consequences of Yeghern as a crime against humanity have not been fully assessed. In the same manner the consequences of the superpowers' irresponsibility toward the phenomenon of Yeghern has not been comprehended yet in all respects. This is the main reason why new genocidal states have been established and this kind of criminal behavior paves its way to be legalized.

THE LERNAEAN HYDRA OF TERRORISM

Yiannos Charalambides

Resume

Turkey faces difficult dilemmas about how to deal with the Kurdish problem and what solution should be given to it. ISIS and terrorism are phenomena generally inherent to the functioning of the international system, which particularly uncover its chaotic character and swinging between conflicting and convergent national interests. Terrorism and ISIS is not a myth, but a reality in which the mythic monster Lernaean Hydra is incarnated. Therefore, what needs to be found out is who the “Hercules” of the international system is.

THE INCOMPATIBILITY OF PROFESSIONALISM AND DILETTANTISM IN DIPLOMATIC PROCESSES

Arman Navasardian

Resume

Dilettantism in diplomacy is contraindicated for the government’s foreign policy and it is detrimental to the state interests. As a rule, during revolutions and in conditions of dramatic changes of political situation of countries, an inflow of non-professionals into the diplomatic system occurs. In addition, such processes are often combined with politicization of diplomatic service, which happened after the Russian Revolution in 1917 and continued till the collapse of the USSR. The existence of dilettantism in diplomacy is an international phenomenon. It is also characteristic even to the US State Department’s political affairs. However, dilettantism is especially dangerous for small countries. In the current process of globalization and formation of a new world order there is a noticeable trend of excluding nonprofessional diplomats from the diplomatic services of the leading countries.

PROBLEMS OF THE CENTERS FOR ARMENIAN STUDIES

Arestakes Simavoryan, Vahram Hovyan

Resume

The article reviews the challenges and problems that the centers for Armenian Studies face, which impede their efficient activities. A number of solutions for overcoming these barriers are suggested.

THE ROLE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA IN PRESERVING THE ARMENIAN IDENTITY IN THE DIASPORA

Stal Sardaryan

Resume

Armenia contributes to preserving the components of Armenian identity by boosting the cultural life through sponsorship and joint organization of concerts, exhibitions, festivals and other events, support of Armenian Studies, establishment of and support to centers for Armenian Studies abroad, organization of pan-Armenian events, preservation and development of Armenian spiritual and cultural legacy in foreign countries, organization of young Diaspora Armenians’ visits to Armenia, creation of virtual educational portals. In preservation of the Western Armenian language, the important factors include its regulation, training and professional development of teachers for the schools in Diaspora. The idea of assigning a status of national language to Western Armenian in the Republic of Armenia is another food for thought.

ETHNIC POLICIES IN TRANSCAUCASIA IN 1920-1930s: PECULIARITIES OF “INDIGENIZATION”

Tamara Vardanyan-Ayvazyan

Resume

Preliminary review of comparative data and archive materials regarding the subject matter exposes a number of peculiarities of ethnic policies in Transcaucasia in 1920-1930s. The Turkic people of Azerbaijan were listed among the “culturally backward” ethnicities of the USSR, and hence, they reaped the benefits of indigenization policy. In Azerbaijan this policy significantly boosted the processes of nation-building based on Turkic identity. Georgians, on the other hand, had key positions in the Transcaucasian Federation, the control and action mandates of which expanded in 1929, and they were able to make it a Georgianoriented entity, thus also benefitting from the opportunities provided by indigenization policy. As for Armenia and Armenian people, this “affirmative action policy” had almost no impact and in some areas even produced a reverse effect, as instead of indigenization of the cadres, persons of other ethnicities started gaining positions in the Communist party and governance system of the Armenian SSR. Thus, under the Transcaucasian Federation the Soviet Armenia found itself at the bottom of the concealed internal priorities list.

INTEGRATION ORIENTATIONS MANAGEMENT IN ARMENIAN SOCIETY

Samvel Manukyan

Resume

Orientation towards integration with the Russian geopolitical space in Armenian society prevails over the one towards integration with the European space. However, involvement of the Armenian society in the global information/cultural space during the last quarter of a century period leads to transformation of the integration orientations’ configuration among the Armenian youth. The paradigms of integration orientations management in Armenian society as a whole and its certain social groups are developed in the article based on the mathematical models constructed using the databases of sociological surveys. The worldview attitudes in Armenian society and priorities of alternative integration projects for solution of Armenian national problems are utilized as control factors.

PERCEPTION OF THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION IN THE ARMENIAN PRESS

Davit Sargsyan

Resume

The article discusses the role of the Armenian media in the local discourse of the geopolitical choice. Particularly, the main issues are media comments and interpretations of the so-called “European integration path” of Armenia, the process of image-making of the European Union as a partner of Armenia, the coverage of the links between Armenian policies and European integration global projects, especially the Eastern Partnership. The main features of the media coverage of the European integration path and Armenian media perceptions of the integration processes in the first decades of Armenia’s independence are provided.