Do citizens of this or that country think about the meaning of their country’s existence? Probably not. Many will indignantly say that this is where the roots of all problems lie. In fact, this is perfectly normal, because for most people the state is a dangerous beast you need to stay away from. The people, being the main class of any country, are always dissatisfied, always demanding, always greedy, stupid and naive, always despise, always distrust and always seek to avoid responsibility.
Most importantly, they are always constant in their request for the state to leave them alone and not to mess up their life. Such a position may seem stupid, short-sighted and paradoxical for many because it is obvious that this class is the state itself for it is its creator. This is true in many ways, but is it possible to take it beyond normal? No way. Why? Because the theory that the majority are the ones, creating the state is ambiguous and largely false.
People are a disorganized mass, which is easy enough to manipulate. At the first stage, under certain conditions this mass must believe that the process of forming an elite that will make decisions and bear responsibility for them depends on their will. Technically, this is true, because people have to show up at polling stations and tick off the names having won their minds and hearts with their beautiful speeches and promises. As a rule, the essence of any political promise boils down to getting rid of the bad and creating the good. The perfect scam. Future politician sells an illusion in exchange for guarantees of their inviolability, impunity and comfort. Indeed, a politician sells a rope to the people, which they will certainly hang themselves on. And in most cases, with a smile on their faces and relentless belief that this is what their sacred duty is. Such are the people and such is the political class. Always, everywhere and at all times.
However, from a disorganized and indifferent majority, an organized minority is born, which thinks in a completely alien way for typical people and the political class. They analyze the past and present to give rise to meanings that fill empty forms. This minority is the elite (statesmen, deep state), which forms a deep immunity that allows, on the one hand, to neutralize the malicious actions of its own people and political class; on the other hand, to protect the state from external challenges and threats. The elite is different from the political class by its willingness to make difficult decisions and accept the full severity of their consequences. The presence of this stratum is a key feature of a meaningful state. Otherwise, we are dealing with an imitation state. The Third Armenian Republic (1991-2020) is a typical example of an imitation state, which provides a fundamental explanation for its failure as a sovereign unit of international life.
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Let’s try to trace the main stages. The Soviet-Armenian generation was perfectly fine with the Red Empire, as well as the Western Armenian population in the Ottoman project before 1915. This comfort zone was comprised of two parts: the majority was provided with the opportunity to earn material goods; an imitation internal elite was created, which de jure was a kind of an integral part of the imperial elite, but de facto had the status of “lookout” their own people. The “imitators” had access to the highest benefits, could use power tools, send their children to privileged schools and had the authority to represent the interests of the empire in European courts. In return, the imperial deep state demanded loyalty to itself and keeping the tribe in line and teaching them how to be grateful and loyal subjects. This ground seemed so fertile that it could not obviously have its own passionate elite. What is it created for if the majority being satisfied with the imitators does not need it. The Ottoman-European entrepreneur Galust Gulbenkian and the Soviet People’s Commissar Anastas Mikoyan are still respected in the Armenian world and are considered outstanding “Armenians”.
The outcomes of this stage are obvious: Armenians have been living in an imitation reality for the past 700 years, completely disconnected from the meaningful processes of forming national schools that develop the concepts of liberation and nation-building. Fidan movements were local and arose from time to time as a reaction to the oppression and physical destruction of Armenians in certain areas of the Ottoman Empire. Political parties that emerged in the 19th century were obviously under external influence and were used as a tool. This becomes obvious not only because of the absurdity of the tasks they set, but also because they focus not on achieving these most absurd tasks, but on fighting each other. Without creating appropriate ideological, political and economic foundations, they declared a struggle for the liberation of historical Western Armenia. In fact, this meant only one thing – to sign the death warrant for their own people living in this territory.
The Gnchak party was founded in 1887 (Russian Armenians in Geneva), Dashnaktsutsyun – in 1890 (Russian Armenians in Tiflis), Ramgavar – in 1921 (the Armenian bourgeoisie of Lebanon which is subordinate to France). It makes no sense to talk about completely mythical and absurd programs of these parties. It is enough to show the contrast. In 1897, the first Zionist Congress was held, which was a ground for creating the World Zionist Organization (WZO) considered a great strategic decision. This meant launching a process to systematize the national potential for creating the organizational and intellectual background and raising sufficient finance. The key point in the “Basel Program” adopted at this Congress was “strengthening the national feelings of the Jewish people”. In other words, the transformation of Jewry from the state of people into a nation was launched.
A nation is not a cultural community, but a political form, without which it is impossible to build a state. Therefore, the Jewish global elite in the face of the WZO has been working hard for 50 years: they achieved success, made mistakes, corrected them, changed their strategy to suit the spirit of the times and circumstances, were criticized; they tried to stop and discredit them. However, the State of Israel became the best indicator of the meaningful activity of the Jewish statesmen.
At the same time, the Armenian “elite”, having incomparably better starting positions, lost the First Republic. One can talk a lot about the specific factors having led to this defeat, but two fundamental reasons can be distinguished: the inability to get out of the imitation mode to meaningful and clinical fear of making independent decisions coupled with the willingness to submit to someone else’s game, trading their subjectivity. At that time, subjectivity was synonymous with the future. It was then that the Armenian world suffered a strategic defeat: the remnants of Armenia were incorporated into the Soviet Empire, and Turkey continued its existence as an independent country, in which people holding promise to become a nation-state on its historical land were exterminated and expelled. In fact, in addition to genocide, there was a stateside – the destruction of a potential state that was one minute away from its birth. What is happening today is just a continuation of the stateside process after a 70-year hiatus. And our active resistance to responsibility for our fate largely contributes to this.
Artyom Geghamyan