The recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the Republican United States presidential candidate, became the most discussed news worldwide. The so-called “conservative” media have already declared him an American hero, who would certainly defeat the 81-year-old Democrat Biden. Such a narrative, though superficial, is perfectly understandable. Traditionally, Americans raised on Hollywood movies and country music attach importance to the candidates’ brutality. Military service, heroic feats, and stubborn headway have been an advantage in the struggle between American politicians at all levels for decades. Getting shot during electoral competition is a serious PR argument, but no more than that. In the run-up to the 1912 election, presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909 President) was shot in the chest while addressing the electorate. Despite his bleeding wound, he kept talking to the audience.
From the political technology viewpoint, the effect was insane, but still not enough for a final victory over humble Democratic historian Woodrow Wilson. This may be a striking (given that Theodore Roosevelt was a glorified war hero), but not an exceptional example. In 1992, hippie lawyer Bill Clinton defeated the brutal Bush Sr. who forced the surrender of the Soviet Union and freed Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. Four years later, Clinton put down another brutal American hero, Senator Bob Dole, who had participated in World War II, suffering a severe wound (machine-gun fire in the back) and receiving two Purple Hearts. In 2008, another public man and lawyer, Barack Obama, defeated John McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran. The US presidential election is a complex set of factors and even more black swans that can turn everything upside down.
We are not as much concerned about the multi-layered, complex, and nuanced electoral system, as the uproar in different parts of the Armenian world, wondering which of the candidates is more advantageous for Armenia. Such a hype and debate alone is a sign of a deep illness, as Nikol Pashinyan sits on the throne in Yerevan, dismantling the remnants of the country day after day. Unilateral territorial concessions to Azerbaijan are not being made by Joe Biden or even by Donald Trump, who has close friendly and business relations with the Azerbaijani Agalarov family [1]. And it was not them who signed the decrees to cut the history of the Armenian people down to the history of the present Third Republic to suit Turkey. There is also an ironclad certainty that Biden and Trump will not persuade Pashinyan to stop making one treacherous and amateur step after another. Even President Woodrow Wilson, adored by the Armenian people, who drew a map of Greater Armenia after World War I, did not endeavor to explain to the leadership of the First Armenian Republic how politics and international relations work.
In the case of presidential elections in the United States one must understand and accept only one thing – there is neither Armenia nor the Armenian factor involved. Candidates are actively discussing Israel, Ireland, Poland (as important partners), as well as Ukraine and Taiwan (as objects and tools). Sometimes they talk about Azerbaijan when it comes to options for building a new energy security structure for the Euro-Atlantic world or to a market where taxpayer corporations can make good money. However, Baku, which has the support of Turkey and pro-Israeli lobbyists in Washington, has stable support (speaking of actions, not empty rhetoric) even without all that. At least, none of the candidates ever recalled the aggression of “authoritarian” Azerbaijan against Artsakh, from where the entire Armenian population was expelled, where graves are being desecrated and religious and cultural monuments are being destroyed. They are also not interested in discussing the occupation of the territories of Armenia and even Pashinyan’s “brilliant” and “global” “crossroads of peace” concept.
And what about the “influential” American Armenians? First of all, we are talking about the million Californian community with its capital in Glendale, represented in Congress by Adam Schiff for more than 20 years. California is one of the key states with 54 electors in the presidential election (the country’s highest-ranking elector). As it traditionally supports the Democratic Party, Republicans try not to spend time or money there. But where is the interest of the Democratic candidate in Armenia and Armenians? The local Armenian community is indeed large and rich, but it is unorganized (to put it mildly) and has no substantive agenda other than an eternal request to call the events of 24 April 1915 genocide. It is quite possible that by 2120-22 (100 years after the occupation of Artsakh and expulsion of Armenians from there), requests to local politicians to call these events a genocide will appear.
[1] Emin Agalarov – son of the founder of the clan Araz Agalarov – was married to the daughter of President Ilham Aliyev.
