We are able to get rid of imitating the Russian state and political traditions
In 1839, the French aristocrat and writer Astolphe de Custine visited Russia. Marquis did not like his homeland bourgeois-democratic (in literally classic, not Armenian sense) regime. He was a supporter of the monarchy, and wanted to find a spiritual heartiness in Nicholas I Russia. But what de Custine saw in Russia, he did not like it either, and he summed up his travel notes in a book, which is entitled “Russia in 1839”. In the 19-20th centuries, the book was dozens of times republished in several languages and up to day gives rise to disputes. And so, in 1839, Marquis saw the arbitrariness of the “top ones” in Russia, and anarchy and adulation of the “grass-roots”, corruption and treasury stealing by the officials, police persecutions, mistrust towards foreigners, and hostility toward the West, which is associated with arrogance and secret envy. It seems to be written about today’s Armenia.
Anyway, Marquis de Custine is not limited to just criticism. He also tries to find the reasons for this situation. It is necessary to control a huge territory with poor communications and multi-ethnic population. This brings to Asian dictatorship, where the monarch’s power is not limited by any institution (recall, the author was an advocate of monarchy). According to Marquis, the search for legitimacy in Russia brings to the fact that the power surrounds itself by idolizing “Byzantine” rites and tries to be self-determined through imperial-military way, by periodically implementing territorial expansion, which is stimulated also by the absence of natural boundaries. All of this, as thought by Custine, wastes the potential of this country and prevents it from becoming a modern prosperous country.
We could also observe this Russian political controversy in Soviet times – overly conservative inside by isolation tendencies, and overly revolutionary to “mission-implementing” extent. On the one hand, the iron curtain, being closed to “hostile environment”, on the other hand, unrestrained support to anti-Western movements and countries in the “third world”, where billions of dollars spent on it just went waste, and modern Russia has nothing to do bit to forgive those debts. (This internal controversy and wasted expenses became one of the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union).
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Current leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin, is trying to continue the above-described traditions, including Asian dictatorship and power-idolizing Byzantine rites. But President. Putin’s plans cannot be implemented in the 21st century, at least the iron curtain is necessary for it, which under modern technology is excluded. And the only rational solution, as said by Raffi Hovhannisyan, is to “back up” and seek harmonious relations with Europe. In fact, Russian political veteran, Yevgeny Primakov, gently hints on it.
Over 200 years, a part of Armenia is under Russia’s domination, and in the 20th century, the three Armenian states were established in the territory of this very part. Therefore, with regard to state traditions, we have borrowed a lot from the “metropolitan” – uncontrolled power, arbitrariness, grass-rooters’ adulation (“fear, my king”), treasury stealing and corruption.
But, in terms of both historical (time period) and space, the potential of Armenians is greater than this 200 years and the territory of this state. Let us recall at least that millions of Armenians have lived and are living outside of Armenia and Russia, and their experience, why not the peaceful pressure over the authorities can be used for building today’s Armenian state. Let’s recall also that the European “anthropocentricity” is also the feature of our medieval and Renaissance culture. But, the human underlies this philosophy, the individual, who does not wait for alms from other people, who relies only on himself and is fully responsible for his behavior, including his mistakes and defeats. This kind of people are missing in today’s Republic of Armenia.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
