Introduction: The Role of the Diaspora

One of the most unique aspects of Armenian history is that the history of the state is almost separate from the history of the Armenian people. This is not by choice, but rather by harsh circumstances that shattered Armenian states and pushed its people to emigrate, the most recent major example being the Armenian genocide.

The reality of today is that there are more Armenians living outside of the Republic of Armenia than in it. This ironically means that the Republic as it is now, does not even represent the majority of Armenians. This factor, however, not only can be fixed but can also be used as an advantage.

Even before the establishment of the Third Republic, the Diaspora played a crucial role in the development of an Armenian state and the maintenance of the Armenian cultural heritage. Not only did they help via donations, investments, and remittances; but also, by providing expertise and political support through lobbying. The Republic needs to thank the diaspora for its support during the 1988 Earthquake, its support during the First Nagorno Karabakh War, the world’s recognition of the Genocide, and its impressive lobbying efforts throughout the world: most notably the acceptance of Section 907 of Public Law 102-511 in the United States in 1992, which hindered US support to Azerbaijan.

Diaspora was so powerful in fact, that it made Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, claim:

“Armenia as a country is of no value. It is actually a colony, an outpost run from abroad, a territory artificially created on ancient Azerbaijani lands.”

“The Armenian lobby is our main enemy and we are the main enemy for them.”

It is reasonable to say that the Republic would not exist without the help from the Diaspora, and both Armenia and Azerbaijan know that. The Republic of Armenia even established a Ministry of Diaspora in 2008 to keep its connections with them (the Ministry was dissolved in 2020).

However, the condition of the Diaspora and its connection with the Republic has been deteriorating for the past years. Ever since the Republic of Armenia lost the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and later lost the Republic of Artsakh, the Diaspora’s general condition has only worsened. The combination of the gradual decline of connection efforts by the Republic, the loss of the war, the loss of Artsakh, and other factors that we will go through shortly, brings great dangers to the Diaspora. And since the Diaspora is an irreplicable asset for the Republic, this danger will harm it as well.

Today, the Diaspora faces many challenges and threats. All of which should be addressed by the Armenian government and its people before it is too late.

Issues at Hand

Lack of Unity

While the Armenian diaspora existed for many centuries, the modern diaspora as it is structured today was created after the Genocide. Ever since that dark chapter of Armenian history, its recognition has been a major drive for the Diaspora. Alongside the Artsakh question, the Genocide has been a great unifier for all Armenians abroad. Regardless of their political views, all Armenians of the world had a cause to support their nation for.

Today, however, the Artsakh question has been concluded against the Armenian interests; and the Genocide is recognized as a historical fact by most of the world, while Turkey still denies it. Although the recognition of the Genocide is a major accomplishment, it did not bring such a cataclysmic change as many hoped it would. This leaves the Diaspora without a united, non-partisan, and tangible goal. This will cause different diaspora groups to lose the connection between themselves and the State. Without unity and a political goal, those groups will be more prone to assimilation in the host countries, and over time they will dilute and disappear. Without a political goal that matches the Republic’s interests, the individual Diaspora groups will develop their own. This will be disastrous because in that case, the Diaspora could even act against the interests of the Republic. The Republic of Armenia has no time to spare before it loses one of its most valuable assets.

This lack of tangible political views by the Diaspora has been a problem ever since the birth of the Third Republic in 1991. When the USSR collapsed, Armenia and its Diaspora were not fully prepared for independence. There were far too many ideas of how the Republic should be built, which is just as unproductive as a complete lack thereof. A big portion of the Diaspora did not want an independent country, thinking that it would not be ready to protect itself from its hostile neighbors. Regardless, they came to support the Republic; being greatly motivated by the Karabakh War and the Genocide question (many saw the actions of Turkey and Azerbaijan in Artsakh as an “extension of the Genocide”).

Today there is no singular united organization that represents and talks in the name of the whole Diaspora. Diaspora groups from different countries have different political views, cultures, and economic interests. Each has its own ideas of the Republic’s and the Diaspora’s roles. Without a singular united voice for the Diaspora, the Republic can’t manage it and communicate with it.

Lack of Government Support

In the early years of the Republic, the Diaspora was very active, because it was inspired by the creation of a new Armenian state. Despite the great assistance the Diaspora has provided, the Republic always displayed a severe lack of support in return, which applies to all its administrations so far. While the Republic and its population somewhat tried to support the Diaspora in the early years, there was still a lack of a clear long-term goal and a good strategy for managing the Diaspora. The dominant idea was to try to “bring Armenians back home.” Meaning the ideal end goal was the relocation of the whole Diaspora to the Republic. It was and stays a quixotic goal that ignores the reality of the situation.

It is unrealistic for the following reasons:

• A large portion of the Diaspora are Western Armenians, many of whom had to escape the Genocide. Western Armenia isn’t a part of today’s Republic of Armenia, instead being mostly a part of modern Turkey. Because of that, Western Armenians cannot “come back” to the Republic, as it never was their home in the first place. That’s why it’s hard to motivate them by using this rhetoric. For many, the Republic is rather a symbolic motherland, not a physical one. This small nuance changes the dynamic and should always be considered.
• Many diaspora Armenians are living in countries with a better standard of living, so it’s going to be difficult to convince them to sacrifice it all to come back. For them to seriously consider that sacrifice, they first need to have trust in the Republic and its future, which has steadily been going from bad to worse.
• Some Diaspora Armenians cannot transfer their work skills from abroad to Armenia because they don’t have a demand in the Republic’s economy. For example: lawyers who study the local laws of their host country, doctors who operate advanced equipment, engineers from industries that are absent in Armenia, etc. This creates a barrier for skilled workers who can’t economically afford to permanently move to Armenia. They won’t be able to implement their skills in the Republic and won’t have an equivalent income, at least on a permanent full-time basis.

Simultaneously with asking the Diaspora to move to the state, the Republic was also asking for “donations.” Finding the attempts ineffective, the Republic switched to asking for “investments” instead. This, however, also requires trust in the Republic and its future growth. For any investor to invest, they first need to believe in the competence, honesty, and potential of the “project.” The Republic has yet to fit this description.

This continuous cry for financial aid/investment has exhausted the Diaspora’s trust. The Republic seems to be following this logic:

• It is the Diaspora’s duty to support the Republic in any way they can because it is their “proxy homeland”, including the Western Armenians who never lived in the territories of today’s Republic.
• The Republic uses the following argument against those who don’t want to “move back to their Homeland:” Since some Armenians refuse to sacrifice the comfort of their host country and move to Armenia, they should at least invest in the Republic to “prove their patriotism.” Making it seem like payment for their comfort and privilege.

Conflict of Interests

Despite the many unenthusiastic attempts, the relationship between the Diaspora and the Government of the Republic is still underdeveloped. It still mostly consists of the Republic asking for help (mostly financial) from the Diaspora. The Diaspora, in turn, then finances the state and occasionally organizes marches in support of the State. This is a very simplistic and underwhelming dynamic, and there are reasons why it is the way it is.

Since the Diaspora consists of different groups with their own philosophy, it can result in them conflicting with the Republic’s government. This conflict is most visible during politically charged times, which creates a challenge for the Politicians in the Republic. Despite the narrative, the Diaspora should always remember that they will unfortunately always be treated differently by Politicians in Armenia because of the following factors:

• Even while being outside of the Republic, the Diaspora has a major influence on Armenian public opinion and information flow. From the Politician’s perspective, this means that there is a group of people outside of their control who can talk freely and effectively spread information. Naturally, this can be viewed as a threat to them.
• The Diaspora is a very valuable ally for the Republic, especially since they create a presence and influence in other countries for an otherwise uninfluential state. This makes the Politicians of the Republic somewhat dependent on the Diaspora for foreign affairs.
• The Diaspora does not participate in the Presidential/Parliamentary elections of the Republic which makes them a unique group for the politicians in the motherland. The Diaspora, while being politically valuable and financially beneficial to the state, is not a potential constituency for the politicians. It makes them less useful to individual politicians in Armenia.

These factors create an environment where the politicians of Armenia can act against the Diaspora, and consequently against the long-term interests of the Republic. So far, the Armenian politicians only cared about the short-term value of the Diaspora, such as their financial and political support; however, the Diaspora possesses great long-term benefits to the Republic, which we will explore later. For any government, it is essentially a bank that can be exploited by using its patriotism. The Armenian politicians are very confident that regardless of how they treat it, the financial aid will still come. All the government must do is call upon the Diaspora for help and claim that “at these crucial times, we can’t afford disagreements.” To continue doing this and to reduce the Diaspora’s leverage, the Armenian politicians benefit from isolating the Diaspora from Armenian affairs as much as possible, which harms the long-term interests of the Republic.

This dynamic creates an unhealthy environment for building a relationship between the Republic and the Diaspora. This means that to build the relationship, Politicians’ role in the process should be minimized.

Issue of a Human Capital

The middle class consists of skillful workers and specialists who are essential for a healthy economy. However, due to economic, social, and political conditions, the Armenian middle class has been steadily leaving the country. This exodus has left the Republic starving for skillful workers. The reason the middle class is more affected is because the lower class usually cannot afford to move out of the Republic, and the upper class is comfortable there, by always having the option to leave.

This lack of skilled workforce creates detrimental gaps in the economy. Because of this, the Republic lags in logistics, construction, administration, military, etc. Regardless of how much capital and resources the Republic will get, there will be a lack of people who can effectively utilize them to the fullest.

Diaspora can help with Armenia’s brain-drain problem. It has many skilled workers, and while they may not be willing to relocate to the Republic permanently, it is possible to convince them to move there for work temporarily. This can be done by creating economic incentives, rather than patriotic speeches.

Considering all the variables, it would be better for the Republic if the Diaspora would stay abroad instead of permanently relocating there. This will create a remote reserve of skilled workers available to travel to the Republic whenever there is a demand for it. This way, the Republic could get skilled personnel which it isn’t able to develop locally. It is not only useful for the creation of a skilled workforce, but also because they can provide foreign influence, networking, and lobbying capabilities from abroad. All of these opportunities would be lost if the Diaspora would move to the Republic, at least for now.

What’s to be Done

Returning the Favor

The Republic mostly sought to get short-term benefits from the Diaspora, but such approaches are not possible because we are talking about millions of people located all over the world – a monumental project. All the attempts to unify the Diaspora with the Republic should be large, years-long projects and policies, which need to stay unchanged regardless of what administration/government is at the head of the Republic. The fact that today there is no major movement or dialogue in Armenia to advocate the development of diaspora is a tragedy within itself.

This doctrine of squeezing the Diaspora of its resources by using their patriotism is only going to hurt the Armenian nation as a whole. What needs to be done is the exact opposite: it’s the Republic who should be supporting the Diaspora, not the other way. It should invest in strengthening and enriching the Diaspora economically and politically. All these talks about financial aid and investment should be reversed. Giving capital to the Diaspora instead will put it in better hands.

While the Genocide was the darkest event in Armenian history, it did give us the Diaspora we have today; and since the Diaspora is so powerful and useful, it ironically means that the darkest event of the nation gave it its most powerful asset. It is the responsibility of all Armenians to use the benefits of the Diaspora to its fullest extent to honor their ancestors who went through such horrors.

One Group, One Voice

As noted, the Armenian nation needs an untied goal and philosophy. Previously we had the cause of the newly created Republic, the Earthquake, the Wars, the Karabakh question, and the Genocide. Today, however, the excitement around the Republic is gone, the Earthquake and its damages are forgotten, the Wars are lost, Karabakh is taken, and the Genocide is getting buried among other countless atrocities of history.

The best new cause for unity is the creation of a global united Armenian Organization; one that supports Armenians around the world by maintaining the culture, Armenian businesses, and political connections. Unifying the Diaspora should be the first step in the development, since without it, nothing else can be done effectively. It will enable the Republic and Diaspora to coordinate better for future larger projects. While there are some Armenian Diaspora organizations in different countries, there is no overarching global one. So, if the Armenian Government would need to contact “The Diaspora,” whom would they call? This means that the Republic has no direct control over its most valuable asset.

There already were short-lived Diaspora unification attempts, which failed because: 1) the organization/attempt was tied to a specific political party and/or administration, 2) too much was tried to be done too quickly without enough preparations, and 3) the goals were too vague and unfocused.

Of course, gathering Armenians from around the world to create a global organization is almost impossible; however, creating a government-supported, platform-style organization is doable. Instead of being comprised of individual Armenians, this organization should act as a unifying platform and a forum for Armenian organizations from all over the world. It should include lobbying, religious, cultural, educational, financial, business, and other major organizations as members. It should give the entire Diaspora a single comprehensive voice. Over time, those member organizations should get integrated into a single one, however, this is a very long and complicated process: a topic for another day.

One of the first things the member organizations should do is to share their databases, networks, and information. This essential Data should be combined to create a list of all diaspora Armenians, which should stay in the possession of this United Organization. This database can be leased to the Armenian government in the future, and it will be useful for the coordination and management of the Armenian Diaspora.

Concentrating the Diaspora

Another way to magnify the benefits and influence of the Diaspora is to make every individual Armenian abroad as efficiently beneficial to the Republic as possible. If the Diaspora spread out too thinly across the world, it would be of little value since they would have little influence over the host countries. Hence to strengthen the Diaspora it’s best to concentrate it in a select few countries. Having millions of Armenians in a single country will give Armenia great leverage over the host-country and this way it will be able to influence and lobby the host. To fully benefit from this, it is necessary to unify the Diaspora first; otherwise, those millions of Armenians cannot be effectively utilized by the State.

The most influential Armenian Diaspora groups today are the ones based in the USA and France. Some of the reasons why those countries work so well for the Diaspora is because they are democratic and culturally welcoming to foreigners. Their political candidates need votes for their elections. A large Armenian population can provide them in exchange for support for the Armenian cause.

Non-Democratic and culturally closed countries will not work for Armenian political goals, because you cannot influence them from within using the same methods. A dictatorial country can suppress protests and prevent external influences more easily without being concerned about legal consequences and public opinion. Besides, dictatorial governments don’t need such support to get “elected,” so a large Armenian population has less to offer them. Because of this, for example, the Armenian Diaspora in Russia has limited influence; regardless of its population size.

This concentration of the Diaspora in select countries can be achieved by providing incentives and support only to Armenian groups located in those countries.

Diaspora’s Seat in Armenian Affairs

We discussed that any government at the head of the Republic will only be interested in extracting resources from the Diaspora and simultaneously isolating it. So, it’s unrealistic to expect the first step to be made by any entity in the Republic, hence it should be made by the Diaspora instead. For any changes to be made, the Diaspora should take control and achieve the representation it’s owed from the Republic. They have been providing one-sided help to the Republic for decades, and representation is their earned right.

A good starting point would be the establishment of a special visa program for all non-citizen Armenian nationals. The core aspect of this special visa should be special voting rights granted to the holder. This will:

1. Improve the Armenian electorate by reintroducing the middle class into the voting process.
2. Create a group of voters who are outside of the influence of political forces in the state.
3. Create due representation for the Diaspora via the visa’s voting rights.
4. Incentivize a more active flow of Armenians to and from the Republic.

A visa is more inviting than Armenian citizenship because some countries don’t allow dual citizenship and, the Armenian citizenship makes the holder subject to the Armenian government and its laws, which enjoys little trust.

In the future, this representation can be expanded by reserving a certain number of seats in the Armenian parliament for the Diaspora Organization. This will work well with the aforementioned special visa since the Diaspora would be able to vote and affect the legislative process.

Regardless of how the representation will be provided, it’s best to engrave it into the Republic’s government system to avoid its removal by any future administration. It’s very important to ensure that this representation will not be under the control of any administration or party since those come and go, while the representation will serve a much longer-lasting purpose. For instance, a ministry of diaspora will not work because it will be under the control of the minister, who in turn will be controlled by the head of the government.

Now we established the following: a) the representation needs a singular organization to work properly, b) the Organization will need the Republic’s support to function, however c) the Armenian administrations are not typically interested in helping with this. So, a question arises: how can the Diaspora achieve the listed goals?

The Diaspora has the ability to pressure the Republic into creating the Diaspora Organization and establishing representation. The key is in the following reality: The Republic needs the Diaspora more than the Diaspora needs the Republic. If the Republic ceased to exist, the Diaspora could still comfortably live in their respective host countries; but if the Diaspora did not exist, the Republic would lose one of its most critical assets while being surrounded by hostile states. By considering this fact one can see that the Diaspora has leverage over the Republic and can direct its political doctrine.

A direct way for the Diaspora to pressure the Republic is to simply refuse to support it in any way (economically or otherwise) until it creates the Organization and/or establishes representation in the state. All Diaspora groups should consider stopping their support until they get their representation and political payback from the Republic. While one can say that this is unfriendly towards fellow Armenians, it’s important to remember that this is for the well-being of the nation, and the target of this “embargo” is not the people of the Republic, but the politicians and the administrative class. To make this strategy more effective, timing is of the essence. The Diaspora is even more powerful at times of political and economic need. Those are the times when the politicians call for patriotism and ask for support. This is the perfect time to deny it and make demands instead. Those times of crises are not rare in the Republic so the opportunities come frequently, however, one day it will be too late. It is best to use the next given chance.

Conclusion

Armenia and the Diaspora are going through dark but not hopeless times. It is usually at times like these when countries break and become a historical example or evolve to see the next century. Today the key to Armenia’s success lies in the hands of its Diaspora. After centuries of not having a country and being a part of some foreign state has rendered the population of today’s Republic ineffective in maintaining an independent and Democratic country. This is when the Diaspora should come to its aid.

The severed relationship between the Republic and the Diaspora is not a sickness but a symptom of a larger problem that lies within the Armenian nation. The problem is the lack of global identity, goal, and philosophy. The Armenians of the world simply have no purpose to move towards. After the Genocide has given Armenians a powerful Diaspora, creating a symbiosis between it and the Republic is the best path to survival for the nation.

Using whatever fortune has given them is the best way for every country to survive. They must use every asset they have to get an advantage over others. Otherwise, they simply become a lesson to others about what not to do. We are lucky to be alive to witness a historical didactic event: either a miraculous recovery of a country or a tragic downfall of an ancient nation. Either way, a valuable lesson.