War, peace and diplomacy

Last week, I watched the joint press conference by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with United States President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu said:

“You are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. That’s why the people of Israel have such enormous respect for you… Your leadership to help bring our hostages home, among them American citizens. You freed up munitions that have been withheld from Israel in the midst of a seven front war for our existence… Ladies and gentlemen, all this in just two weeks. Can we imagine where we’ll be in four years? I can. I know you can, Mr. President. 

For our part, we in Israel have been pretty busy, too… We’ve devastated Hamas. We decimated Hezbollah. We destroyed Assad’s remaining armaments and we crippled Iran’s air defences. In doing this, we’ve defeated some of America’s worst enemies. We took out terrorists who were wanted for decades for shedding rivers of American blood… We also see eye-to-eye on Iran. the same Iran that tried to kill us both. They tried to kill you, Mr. President, and they tried through their proxies to kill me. 

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, Israel will end the war by winning the war. Israel’s victory will be America’s victory. We’ll not only win the war — working together, we’ll win the peace. With your leadership and our partnership, I believe that we will forge a brilliant future for our region and bring our great alliance to even greater heights.”

Here is a genocidal leader, who has ethnically cleansed Gaza and committed war crimes and atrocities against the Palestinians, switching from war to diplomacy, relaying Israel’s victory as an American victory and equating his country’s interests with American interests. 

This is the climate of aggression we live in — where war dictates peace and an act of aggression ends a long-disputed conflict. This was not done in an act of self-defense, but pure maximalist aggression, backed by alliances forged through force, war and power. 

While watching this press conference on TV, I was also scrolling through social media and watched the prime minister of Armenia deliver a speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington. It felt like a comic sketch. Like an old record, he talked about democracy — as if it remains a significant selling point when the world is moving towards authoritarianism, and Armenia and Artsakh have been the most democratic countries in the South Caucasus for the last 34 years. Then, he discussed his unrealistic peace narrative, which has brought Armenia nothing but loss and suffering.

Pashinyan seems to believe that Armenia’s defeat in the war in Artsakh can bring Armenia sovereignty. How absurd is that theory? In a world of war and aggression, he claims that our national defeat and loss of young soldiers have secured sovereignty for Armenia. Armenia is now on the road to becoming a vassal state of Azerbaijan and Turkey. We lost Artsakh — Armenia’s only shield against Azerbaijan — and Azerbaijani forces control the most strategic heights within sovereign Armenian territory and will soon have access to a corridor through Syunik. 

Who in the West will buy this? Who will respect such an incapable and weak leader? Netanyahu’s speech was a master class in diplomacy by a statesman, while Pashinyan’s speech belittled and degraded whatever strength Armenia had achieved through past victories. 

Pashinyan seems to believe that Artsakh held back Armenia’s growth and that peace with Azerbaijan should be secured at any cost — even if it means abandoning international accountability for Azerbaijan’s war crimes by withdrawing legal cases from the International Court of Justice. This collaboration with the enemy extends further, as he appears ready to forget past atrocities committed by Azerbaijan and Turkey — just as the French Third Republic chose collaboration with Nazi occupiers in 1940. By questioning the facts of the Armenian Genocide, Pashinyan crosses red lines that no other Armenian leader has ever crossed.

Is this weak leadership in a world where conflicts are resolved only through aggression? Or is this a path of compromise, similar to previous leaders who downplayed our victories in the first Artsakh war?

Every war has been waged by Azerbaijan and our retaliation has been an act of self-defense, not aggression. We are not the occupier — we merely fight for our right to survive. Despite Azerbaijan’s loss in the Artsakh war of the 1990s, they never made further compromises while negotiations for a final settlement continued. Now, these acts of survival are being presented by Pashinyan in the language of peace and compromise. 

Respect is gained through strength and power, not self-imposed weakness. Conceding to Azerbaijan’s demands, forgoing the rights of Artsakh’s population, giving up land and talking about a “real Armenia” that contradicts any historical claims are failed policies of diplomacy. That’s why Netanyahu was greeted like a hero in Washington, and Pashinyan was cast aside. 

Defeatism will bring the rapid end to Armenian statehood. Armenia faces an existential danger of a systematic agenda aimed at destroying our national identity and dignity. The true tragedy is that the prime minister stays in power and implements his traitorous agenda at the expense of Armenia’s interests, with no one able to hold him accountable due to the opposition’s weakness and fragmentation. We have lost regional allies, and Pashinyan’s incapable diplomacy has subjected Armenia to self-imposed isolation. 

The danger lies within Armenia, and the solution also rests with Armenians. It is the responsibility of all Armenians to stand up and demand our rights to live in the region with peace and dignity. Leaders come and go but the resilience of the Armenian nation withstands time.

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Annette Moskofian

Annette Moskofian was born in Tehran and grew up in London. She has a master's in international relations and democratic politics. Moskofian is the chair of the Armenian National Committee of the United Kingdom.

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