“And with every newborn, he shall be born again…
And every birth shall be a repetition of the first birth.”
Ashot Avagyan
At least five billion years. That is approximately how long the Sun is expected to live. In this sense, it is also the minimum horizon of our immortality.
In the first part of The Strategic Armenian series, it was argued that after the fall of Artsakh, the mission of Armenians expanded beyond a purely national framework and acquired a universal significance.
The fall of democratic Artsakh demonstrated that world order is not a given reality but the result of continuous struggle. It must constantly be recreated, defended, and developed.
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Under these conditions, the Armenian mission is no longer limited to solving national problems. It also involves participating in the preservation and advancement of the just principles of human coexistence. This mission extends beyond the lifespan of any single generation and becomes a process of historical continuity.
World order and human development are ongoing processes. Those who participate in them enter an endless chain of succession, carrying forward and improving the work of those who came before them.
From the French philosopher René Descartes, we learned: “I think, therefore I am.” In other words, the first proof of human existence is the capacity to think.
For the Strategic Armenian, however, existence extends beyond the individual. We continue to exist as long as what we have thought continues to be thought in the minds of others, as long as our ideas remain alive in other people.
Thus, the formula of the Strategic Armenian is the following:
“What I have thought continues to be thought; therefore, I continue to exist.”
This is immortality, at least until the end of the Sun’s life and perhaps beyond. Yet the goal of the Strategic Armenian is not merely personal immortality. His mission is to contribute to the development of humanity and planet Earth, so that life, thought, and civilization may continue even beyond the limits that today appear final.
If the Sun has an end, then thought must create the next beginning.
Eternity did not begin with our birth and will not end with our death. It exists beyond individual time. In the human sense, it began when the first thought emerged in the human mind. From that moment, human beings sought to transmit their thoughts to others. They had children, taught students, wrote books, and created works.
If what we have thought has entered another mind, if what we have created has become the foundation of another person’s work, then our existence continues through them.
In this sense, the Strategic Armenian is immortal. His thought is transmitted to the next thinker, and his work becomes the foundation of the next work.
The Strategic Armenian stands in opposition to a way of thinking that was often characteristic of Armenia’s Third Republic: “Let us solve all problems so that our children may live well.” Under the conditions of the Artsakh conflict, this mindset became a national aspiration.
The Strategic Armenian understands that his mission is not limited to the well-being of his own children. He knows that future generations must take what he has accomplished, continue it, and improve it, while each historical era develops its own challenges and its own solutions.
The logic of “solving all problems so that our children may live well” assumes that history can come to an end. Yet history does not end. In this sense, the vision of philosopher Francis Fukuyama that humanity might reach the endpoint of history and settle into a final political and social order did not come to pass.
Every solution creates new problems. Every achievement creates new responsibilities. Every generation develops the mission further.
If we leave future generations with nothing to do but consume, we deprive them of a mission. And a person deprived of a mission is cut off from eternity.
From this it follows that fearing death is meaningless. We fear disappearance, yet human beings are not confined to their bodies. Their thoughts, deeds, influence, and created values continue to live in the minds of others.
For the same reason, the death of a loved one does not mean their final disappearance. We grieve because we will no longer see them, hear their voice, or experience their presence. Yet what they have transmitted to us continues to live in our minds. They become part of our thinking and our actions. The meaning and mission of their biological life continue within us.
Thus, death is not an end but a transmission: from one life to another, from one thought to another, from one generation to the next.
No one disappears entirely if what they thought and what they created continue to live in human memory and human action.
Existence comes from thought.
And thought is immortal, if it is born again with every newborn.
In the first part of The Strategic Armenian, it was discussed that one of the possible forces capable of restoring order and justice in the world is the Armenian people.
In the second part, it was argued that to fulfill that mission, national identity must be elevated to a supranational level — a consciousness of being useful to planet Earth.
Next, we explore what kind of thinking, behavior, and way of life are necessary for this national-supranational mission to succeed. You can also read: Part 3.1 Rise Above Offence | Part 3.2 Restrain Your Opinion | Part 3.3 No Single Right Way
Hovhannes ISHKHANYAN
