armenianpoliticalidentity

Armenians have long held differing views regarding political orientation. In the aftermath of the Genocide, many viewed their destiny as being aligned with the West (the "Little Ally"), starting with Wilson's support for self-determination through a US mandate for Armenia. Later, in Diaspora, this view expanded to include anti-Soviet/pro-US positions as being somehow congenial to Armenian self-determination. Others took different views: For example, some in Diaspora sought a position of neutrality between East and West; this became so especially in the 1960s and '70s, when the Third World's challenge to Western hegemony coincided with growing unrest among Armenians who had become deeply critical of US support for Turkey as a belligerent client state. Some extended the critique even further, asserting that the most real and durable alliances would link Armenians not with East or West, but with similarly dispossessed peoples such as the Kurds and Palestinians. Meanwhile, within the Soviet (and ex-Soviet) sphere, mainstream thought has identified Armenians as a junior partner--both culturally and politically--of Russia. Exactly who are the Armenians? Is a unified orientation reasonable to ask for? In seeking a progressive vision of Armenian political identity, what are the appropriate questions to ask?