I am not sure about you, but I for one am frustrated with the inability of the diaspora and the homeland to build a strong interdependent relationship. In this time of crisis, it is particularly disappointing. There have been moments where we were on the cusp, only to let short term issues block our vision of a prosperous Armenia. It is a fruitless exercise to assess blame because it has been our collective problem and thus far our collective failure. Of course, there are thousands of success stories, but that should not be the barometer for our nation. The only measurement that counts is the actual performance versus our global potential. We have understated our potential in the last 30 years. My perception is that the negativity has grown in the diaspora over the last several years. There are two major emotions that we see in our communities toward Armenia: disappointment and fear. These are dangerous responses for the diaspora because they can lead to inaction and aloofness. The euphoria of 2018 has settled into disappointment and in some cases cynicism over the internal strife and the disastrous 2020 war. Unfortunately, instead of reaching deep within us to increase our advocacy, many Armenians in the diaspora have taken a step back. The compounded impact of that behavior has been visible. We seem to take the idea of a sovereign nation lightly.
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Mr. Piligian deserves credit for his effort to tackle this complex and essential issue. As an Armenian-American who has worked and lived in Armenia, I can attest to the fact that the homeland and diaspora organizations and individuals both possess many of the same positive and negative attributes. On the plus side we have many committed, competent, innovative and creative people and groups doing everything possible to move mountains.
Sadly, often what stands in the way of success in both sectors is oligarchism (yes, Diasporan organizations have this problem, too), ego/megalomania, greed/exploitation of assets – tangible and cerebral – and destructive competitiveness. If today represents Armenia’s last gasp, we must accept that the damaging tribal jockeying that “anything you can do, I can do better” and the slogan “we are full of generals but no foot-soldiers” are partly the cause.
Many compatriots have struck out alone to help the Cause only after working on the inside and embracing teamwork did not work, only to be maligned for being divisive. We have all heard the term “silent majority.” What we often have in our communities is a SILENCED majority. Alas, the organizational leaders would rather complain that there is attrition and apathy (true) than look inward to see how they have alienated their own constituencies (also true). We also have yet to learn that there is room at the table for everyone. Fellow Armemians are not the enemy, but sometimes you would never know it. Perhaps it’s easier to eat one’s own that to go up against a formidable adversary.
Your comments ring very true unfortunately ! It also partially explains why Armenians working from the diaspora may have so little impact on Armenia, even though each person is working very hard to build a house, furnish a school room or plant a tree. Individual contributions are acts of well intentioned charity but they hardly change the course of the country. As others have said, there is a need for national state policies that the Armenian government supports and to which Diaspora can contribute financially or by providing technical expertise. Also Armenian communities can have organized fund raising through tithing, and sale of Armenia bonds. The goal should be to raise hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
The topic that Mr Piligian discusses is the most critical one for the long term viability of Armenia and diaspora, assuming that Armenia and Artsakh can get through their current existential crisis. It deserves much wider discussion and more importantly, implementation of its ideas. It is clear from the history of the past 100 years that there is considerable resistance in Armenian society to the idea of the global Armenian. Current Armenian leaders are too parochial and petty to deal with major national problems. In my opinion the solution lies in education, especially at the university level. There is a need to establish a “new way of thinking” to create a “new Armenian man/woman” who thinks globally and acts locally. We need universities/institutes in Yerevan, Moscow, Paris, Boston, New York, Montreal, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Beirut, Dubai and Sydney who will teach and train the future leaders of Armenia and diaspora. The key goal of these institutes is to tackle the difficult topics raised by Mr Piligian and others and propose solutions. These institutes can provide the “intellectual glue” that binds the leaders of Armenian communities in Armenia and diaspora. These universities can be affiliated with existing higher education institutions such as UCLA, AUA, AUB and Haigazian. On a positive note there will be two conferences coming up that deal with some of these topics, the first one organized by the Office of High Commissioner of Diaspora affairs (http://diaspora.gov.am/en)(Oct 28-31st, 2022), and the second one by the Future Armenian (https://futurearmenian.com/convention/) (Nov 11-13, 2022). As usual, Armenians must have two of everything !