YYears ago, not long after the Rose Revolution in Georgia, at a seminar in Tsaghkadzor, one of the Georgian public figures declared that his country was a bastion of freedom and democracy in the Caucasus. I asked him a simple question: is it really a good thing to be anyone’s—or anything’s—outpost?
To my ear, and to many others, the word carried an unpleasant ring. Around that time there had been an uproar over remarks by Boris Gryzlov, then Speaker of Russia’s State Duma, who described Armenia as his country’s “outpost in the South Caucasus.”
Our guest replied that if we are talking about good things—freedom and democracy—there is nothing wrong with being an outpost.
In theory, he was right. In practice, however, a great deal has changed over the past twenty years, including our understanding of democracy itself. Is the United States still the standard-bearer of democracy? I am no longer so sure. Donald Trump says, “I didn’t like the way that woman spoke to me” (incidentally, he mistakenly called Karin Keller-Sutter the “Prime Minister of Switzerland,” although no such position exists), “so I decided to raise tariffs.” Or he demands that Netflix, a private company, remove board member Susan Rice because he dislikes her political views. That hardly aligns with the classical understanding of democracy.
Read also
And besides, once you say, “We are an outpost,” the obvious question follows: an outpost against whom?
In Armenia’s case, the answer seems fairly clear. Reports say the European Union is preparing to assist Armenia in preventing Russian interference in elections—first by deploying a “hybrid rapid response team” to counter Kremlin disinformation, and possibly later by establishing a permanent civilian mission in this South Caucasus country.
In other words, a political support unit is being dispatched—one that would help sustain the current authorities and serve as a strategic foothold in the region. A genuine outpost.
…The authorities of France—the homeland of Charles de Montesquieu, the author of the theory of separation of powers—are backing in Armenia a political figure who says, “There isn’t a single judge who wouldn’t do what I tell them.”
That, in itself, says everything.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
The image is created by artificial intelligence
