#recognize artsakh

[zvaigzdelasas]

pretty likely armenia will try to trigger CSTO's article 4 over this

#artsakh isnt internationally recognized as either independent nor as a part of armenia so didnt rly qualify #these strikes seem to be across armenia proper - currently line of control doesnt seem to have changed #most around zangezur/syunik - for obvious reasons

[artsyaprilmr]

It's been two months since more than 100 thousand armenians have been ethnically cleansed from their homeland of Artsakh. This doesn't mean that everything is over and everyone can get back to their daily lives and forget about it. I found some ways to help that I urge you to at least reblog.

DONATE:

Greenhouses and Beekeeping for displaced Artsakhtsis

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES:

H.R.5683 - Supporting Armenians Against Azerbaijani Aggression Act of 2023

H.R.5686 - Preventing Ethnic Cleansing and Atrocities in Nagorno-Karabakh Act of 2023

H.Res.320 - Recognizing the Republic of Artsakh's independence and condemning Azerbaijan's continued aggression against Armenia and Artsakh.

#armenia #artsakh #donations #action item

[anarcho-mom-unist]

Reflections on Armenian Martyrs’ Day 🇦🇲

Today is Armenian Martyrs’ Day, where we remember the lives of the 1-and-a-half-million Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1918 (holding solidarity with the Pontic Greeks, Assyrians, and Chaldeans who were also targeted by the state’s policy of genocide, and remembering the Armenians killed by the state and in mob violence in the decades before 1915).

Please do not forget the Armenians. Genocide denial and justification is state policy in the Republic of Turkey, Erdogan and Aliyev both regard the atrocities of 1915 as an incomplete project, the Republic of Artsakh has been ethnically cleansed and Azerbaijan’s immediate ambition is the conquest and ethnic cleansing of southern Armenia.

Please do not forget the Armenians. There is an open wound in the heart of the Armenian people. We are denied reparation, justice, and even the dignity of the successor state to the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide acknowledging that harm was done. Where there were once large or majority Armenian communities in Turkey and Azerbaijan, these polities erase Armenian culture —this building was not a church, no Armenians lived here (if they did they were invaders), there is no identifiable Armenian material culture in the Archaeological record. In Turkey “crypto-Armenian” is an accusation thrown at politicians by their opponents.

Do not forget the Armenians. Do not buy or perpetuate the petty justifications that states make to deny or diminish genocide. In your solidarity with oppressed peoples and expressions of love of justice, love the oppressed more than you hate the oppressor. Recognize that “never again” is a matter of policy and collective action.

Do not forget the Armenians.

My family history functionally ends in ellipses a generation, maybe two, before the Armenian Genocide. My great grandparents endured the brutality of death marches into Der El Zor desert, surviving starvation, acts of torture and humiliation and violation, the constant threat of death, and watched friends and loved ones die.

Do not forget the Armenians today or any day.

#armenian genocide #armenian martyrs day

[peemil]

i think more people need to realize that indigeneity is a broader phenomenon than they think it is. stolen land is most egregious in settler colonies like the united states/canada/australia but oversimplifying things like that makes it harder to recognize other genocidal efforts throughout the world. ryukyu and ainu moshiri are stolen land. dokdo is stolen land. artsakh is actively being stolen. fuck, northern ireland is stolen land. and genuinely i think this is getting in the way of a lot of people's understanding of what's happening in palestine—the inability to recognize that colonization and genocide can take many forms, and that doing so is necessary in order to stop it before it's too late.

#solidarity between native people and irish people and armenians and palestinians and koreans forever. #i'm forgetting a lot but the list is. Long #solidarity between all indigenous people—those who have gotten their land back and those who are still fighting #recognizing the damage imperialism has done to my own people's culture has really made me understand a lot about what is happening in the r #*rest of the world. unfortunately not everyone has the privilege of lived experience or the ability to even recognize it #a lot of other korean people don't realize how Fucked we've gotten and how we're actively buying into the us's bullshit #but a lot of us are seeing our own experiences in those of indigenous and colonized peoples everywhere and fighting for what's right #idk where i was going with this #he scream at own follower #i think i'm mostly bad at white baby leftists who are still trying to bothsides this #*mad at #because they can't wrap their heads around the fact that the colonizer isn't entirely White Christians (even though the White Christians ar #*are funding the colonizer's effors) #*efforts #and because they still have leftover islamophobia they want to find every excuse they can to Not have to sympathize with muslims

[sevaghves]

To clear things up for our Ukrainian friends.

Ukraine didn't condemn Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenia in 2020. Armenia didn't condemn Russia's aggression against Ukraine in 2022.

Why?

For some reason Ukrainian political elite considers Artsakh similar to the Donetsk and Luhansk "republics". That's not the case. Artsakh was annexed from Armenia in 1920s by the bolsheviks along with Nakhijevan. The 1st Karabakh war happened because when Artsakh as autonomous republic voted independence during the collapse of USSR, Azeri and Russian forces started military operations against Armenians. For comparison, imagine these 2 regions be recognized as Russian territory to "stop the conflict", Ukrainians in Donetsk and Luhanks organize self-defense units and uprising for reunification with Ukraine and be called separatists.

After the betrayal and war of 2020, when Russia deployed "peacekeepers" to Artsakh, 120000 people in Artsakh became Putin's hostages. That predetermined Armenia's foreign policy for the next 3 years. Every independent move resulted in Azeri attacks on Artsakh and Armenia proper, sanctioned by Putin. Over 140 sq km of Armenian territory became occupied by Azerbaijan. The West refused to help as they didn't want to interfere in the areas of Russian influence.

The war in Ukraine opened the Western eyes to Putin's real objectives. Or rather they could no longer afford to stay blind. Putin's Imperialist agenda arrived at their doorstep.

What can we do as former colonies of Russia to stop this direct and indirect aggression?

First of all recognize each other as sovereign states that are out of Soviet framework of "brotherly" nations. It's okay to have different interests and alliances. But in this fight we have to be united and show understanding for the ways Putin manipulated our countries. We need to be honest and pragmatic with each other.

I wish victory to Armenia in her fight for survival and I wish the same to Ukraine. And just as my Ukrainian friends are focused on their war, I am focused on mine. This doesn't mean we don't care about the other. My family has friends in Ukraine who spend almost every night sheltering from Russian bombing. Some of our Armenian friends are refugees of the 2014 aggression.

And I wish my Russian friends that one day in the future they see their country free from the thugs and fascists that have usurped the power for so long. We all deserve better than this vile chaos.

#armenia #artsakh #karabakh #russia #putin #ukraine #stop azeri aggression #azerbaijan is fascist #ussr #usa #eu

[cetra]

Yet another reminder that Israel does not formally recognize the Armenian genocide, Armenians in the Old City are treated as stateless persons by both the Israeli occupation and the settlers despite Armenian presence there dating back thousands of years, and Israel has continuously assisted Azerbaijan in their own successful ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Artsakh (a mission that won't stop there)

This isn't anything new. It's never about Hamas, it's about further expediting the vision of their supremacist state

#settler violence tw

[warsofasoiaf]

Do you have a take on the Nagorno-Karabakh situation? Seems to me like N-A and Armenia are up shit creek without a paddle. Their protector, Russia, is kind of... busy... and the West is too far away, too occupied, and (at least with the EU) too invested in Azerbaijani natural gas to do anything substantial. Also, technically allied to Turkey, who supports Azerbaijan. Iran might be interested in making life difficult for Azerbaijan and Turkey, but are unlikely to do anything short term. Thoughts?

Russia actually helped negotiate a ceasefire to surrender Artsakh, so their protector is actively promoting the cession of territory (that they helped them take earlier). Technically, that region is internationally recognized as Azeri territory, so defensive obligations regarding CSTO are a little murkier than they would be if Azerbaijan initiated a full-blown war against Armenia and attempted to invade Yerevan. I doubt that will happen, it'd be a political shitshow and the sanctions would crush the Azerbaijan export-driven economy. So in that sense, we probably won't see the outbreak of a full-blown war in Central Asia.

The entire Nagorno-Karabakh situation is a shitshow, the legacy of Stalin setting up borders and moving populations to divide them against each other and prevent any sort of consolidated resistance against Soviet imperial rule. The legacy of the states left behind following imperial collapse lingers still.

What I'm worried about is without a solid plan in place and means to enforce it, it could quickly devolve into ethnic cleansing.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#modern politics #armenia #azerbaijan #nagorno karabakh

[babylon-crashing]

The following opinion piece was written by Mark Gavoor in the Armenian Weekly and I am reprinting it here because it sums up better than I can do many of the conflicting emotions I am feeling right now:

Like most everyone who reads this, I am feeling very sad and helpless.  Armenians around the world knew it was likely this day would come, when our enemy would begin a military offensive to take Artsakh. We knew this was more likely than a favorable outcome for the Armenians. We have felt this way since the blockade of the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor started over nine months ago. We have felt this way since Aliyev began referring to the Republic of Armenia as Western Azerbaijan. We knew, but felt helpless to do anything about it. The government of the Republic of Armenia seemed unable to do anything either. The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan earlier this year. Many in Armenia and the diaspora were appalled by this announcement and accused him of caving in, but no one offered any viable alternatives.  Sadly, an alternative based on self-determination required the Armenians in Armenia or Artsakh to have a military capable of providing a military defense. The days of grabbing a rifle or pitchfork and heroically defending the homeland are well behind us. The only other option was to wait for another country to step in and make Azerbaijan and Turkey agree to terms favorable to the Armenians. Who would do this? Russia, the U.S., France or India?  Countries rarely act on altruism. Look at the news. Our story is buried on page six, if anywhere. It is not the lead story. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressing the U.N. is a top story. The U.S. giving $24 billion in aid to Ukraine is a top story. We are an afterthought or no thought at all. The U.S. still gives aid to Azerbaijan. Yet the U.S. State Department made a statement: The United States is deeply concerned by Azerbaijan’s military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls on Azerbaijan to cease these actions immediately. These actions are worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and undermine prospects for peace. Nice words. I can’t imagine they will have any more impact on the outcome in Artsakh than the words I am typing here.  What is the best we hope for now? Will the U.S. and France provide evacuation and resettlement aid for the people of Artsakh? A guarantee of the sovereignty and borders of the Republic of Armenia? Who can possibly make and back-up such a guarantee? Does Armenia become a vassal state of…you tell me? I am not a diplomat, in the leadership of any government or political party, or an expert in international affairs. What do I know? I know that Artsakh is Armenian. We all know that to the core of our beings. Yet we seem to be the only people in the world to believe that. Borders were drawn a century ago, and everyone but us believes that land is now part of Azerbaijan. We cannot do anything to change that or what is happening in Artsakh.  Armenians are in a very precarious position. What is the future of our homeland, our self-determination? I am not sure we even have a paper ladle these days.

Mark Gavoor

Mark Gavoor is Associate Professor of Operations Management in the School of Business and Nonprofit Management at North Park University in Chicago. He is an avid blogger and oud player.

#armenia #artsakh #armenian weekly #mark gavoor #reblog

[mariacallous]

Meduza has obtained a copy of guidelines distributed by the Kremlin late September 19 to Russia’s state-controlled news media. The memo contains instructions on how to cover Azerbaijan’s military strike on Nagorno-Karabakh, in which 32 people have been killed and more than 200 injured.

Russia’s propagandist news media are advised to stress that the assault was precipitated by Armenia and its Western “partners,” and that “the Armenian leadership has recognized the sovereignty of Azerbaijan over Karabakh.”

To support this claim, the Kremlin suggests quoting what Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in October 2022 when he and Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, made mutual assurances of each country’s respect for the other’s sovereignty.

The media guidelines say this:

The Armenian Premier was probably pushed to make these remarks by his Western “partners,” who should now fully share the responsibility for their consequences. The Armenian leadership’s decision, which cardinally altered Karabakh’s status, prompted Azerbaijan to take action. Baku now sees the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh as its own internal business.

As for the Russian peacekeepers deployed in Karabakh, the Kremlin suggests describing their function as “monitoring” the situation in the region. It is, nevertheless, advisable to talk about how the peacekeepers help “evacuate the civilian population.”

Other suggested topics for the media to cover include a story about displaced Karabakh residents taking “refuge” in an Orthodox church building, located on the grounds of a Russian peacekeeping base.

Examples of compliant coverage have already started to appear in print. The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, for instance, writes that Nikol Pashinyan agrees that “Karabakh is Azerbaijan.” “The people of Armenia want to see peace in Karabakh and prosperity in Armenia. The government in Yerevan, though, judging by its policies, only dreams of getting rid of Karabakh and sailing west,” the paper opines.

Similarly, the online news outlet Lenta.ru writes that “the Karabakh question is essentially turning into Azerbaijan’s internal business.”

On September 20, Azerbaijan and the government in Nagorno-Karabakh declared a cease-fire. The Artsakh Defense Forces, established with Armenia’s help in Nagorno-Karabakh, will now be dissolved.

On September 21, a meeting on “reintegrating” the Karabakh Armenians into Azerbaijan and ensuring their safety is scheduled to take place in Yevlakh.

[rosesvioletshardy]

i’m sorry but i do not support the following countries:

azerbaijan, turkey, and israel

and nor will i ever post anything positive about them. they have killed millions and yet to recognize what the have done. israel helped arm azerbaijan with killing armenians as azerbaijan not only killed thousands and thousands of innocent lives, but are also tearing and destroying thousands of years old christian churches and are killing ethnic armenians out of their home in artsakh . turkey continues to deny the 1915 genocide where they killed 1.5 million of people and are also helping the azeri people kill armenians.

#there are def more but all 3 are killing armenians and helping create another genocide #as if the 1915 1.5 million dead wasn’t enough #not to mention the constant denial of the genocide #azerbaijan is a terrorist state

[zvaigzdelasas]

President Samvel Shahramanyan’s decree called for all institutions and organizations of the Republic of Artsakh – which is not recognized internationally – to dissolve by the start of next year. “The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) ceases its existence,” read the decree, which was shared on Facebook by the Artsakh government.

28 Sep 23

[flotsam-gazette]

see also full article f-g(D).

#armenia #artsakh #nagorno karabakh

[everydayesterday]

I follow a few accounts with armenian heritage on here, and in real life includes my ex and all of her family, so the artsakh expulsion has been on my mind.

an aspect of the conflict that seems to have gone unreported in the mass media has been why azerbaijan would have any claim to the region in the first place, considering its armenian population. I wonder if perhaps this is part of the reason that it hasn't been covered as much by the press as it should be—there's a lack of context.

but admittedly, that context is confusing.

here's my cliff notes version of things (writing this down for myself, but you can follow along), though I am definitely not claiming to be any sort of scholar of this.

the borders were effectively drawn between armenia and azerbaijan by ethnic lines that had developed over the course of a few thousand years through various empires and conquests. persians, romans, byzantines, ottomans, russians.

but more formally, the soviets in 1921 gave nagorno-karabakh/artsakh to azerbaijan, and no one truly knows why (on july 4 they decided it should belong to armenia, but on july 5 they abruptly reversed course and decided on azerbaijan). this decision was despite the region being majority armenian.

vague terms of interethnic harmony, economic efficiency, and somehow placating türkiye have been thrown around as potential reasonings, but there don't seem to be any surviving transcripts of those kavbiuro meetings. even azerbaijani scholars seem confused ("Stalin’s position was based not on historical realities, but on whatever served the time"). how would it be placating türkiye if both armenia and azerbaijan were still going to be part of the soviet union? I'm unclear on how it would've made sense.

...

but now? therein lies the big question about the current expulsion and what comes next. nagorno-karabakh now gives azerbaijan more of a wraparound presence in relation to the zangezur corridor—the southern part of armenia that separates the nakhchivan exclave to greater azerbaijan. [I unfortunately suspect that will be the next area of violence]

but that leads to an even bigger question... what is the future of türkiye and azerbaijan? they say "two states, one nation" and that zangezur corridor would provide a link between ankara and baku.

russia's defense of armenia has been significantly weakened by the ukraine conflict, so they're not about to enter into a dispute with türkiye. the rest of the international community hasn't ever given a fuck about artsakh (though 12 US states actually do recognize it) or until recently the genocide in 1915; will they care about some towns and villages in southern armenia? will they care about yerevan being further enclosed? [I certainly hope that I'm getting ahead of myself with these questions]

who fights for armenia? [revisit this question in a few years]

#foreign affairs #armenia #artsakh #nagorno-karabakh #zangezur corridor #azerbaijan #turkey #türkiye #russia

[wartakes]

“Don’t Start None, Won’t Be None” (OLD ESSAY)

This essay was originally posted on November 22nd, 2020 (at the tail end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War between Azerbaijan and Armenia). I think this is where I started to find my footing and what I was about more in terms of my ideology and approach to war and conflict and peace and probably the earliest essay I'm still kinda proud of. This is where the birth of the "Don't Start None, Won't Be None"/"Fuck Around and Find out"/ Doctrine emerged. (Full essay below the cut).

“Some people seem confused by my posts recently. Just because I’m anti war does not mean I’m a pacifist.”

That is what Joe Kassabian – author of both fiction and non-fiction and the host of “Lions Led by Donkeys”, one of my favorite podcasts and a gateway that led me to leftism – tweeted out a day after war erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The reason that some of the listeners of Joe’s podcast and readers of his books might have been confused or upset was obvious if you know anything about him. After all, as long as I have been consuming Joe’s content, he has made his views on war pretty obvious: he’s against it. I could think of more than a handful of episodes of his podcast where he and his cohost Nick had very clearly stated that military blunders like the ones they examined throughout history can simply be avoided if you “don’t go to war” and “don’t invade people.” This was given further weight by their combined military service, which included time spent in Afghanistan for Joe.

However, the recent war in the South Caucasus has a personal dimension for Joe as an Armenian-American. The conflict and long going disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan center on territory known as Artsakh or Nagorno-Karabakh. Though internationally recognized as a territory of Azerbaijan, Artsakh is both historically and overwhelmingly ethnically-Armenian and only became part of Azerbaijan under the former-Soviet Union, when the Soviet government created Nagorno-Karabakh as an autonomous region within Azerbaijan in 1920. Artsakh itself has been nominally independent – though officially unrecognized – since after the last full-scale war between Armenia and Azerbaijan following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, a bloody conflict was halted by a cease-fire in 1994.

Since the last war, both countries have engaged in a prolonged, low-level struggle with one another over Artsakh, with occasional flare ups. But on September 27, 2020, the conflict escalated back into a fully blown conventional war as Azerbaijan’s military launched attacks with armor, artillery and airpower in an attempt to seize Artsakh. They have done so with the full political and military support of Turkey – which committed the infamous and horrific 1915 genocide against the Armenian people.

The escalating conflict has quickly brought with it violence and suffering for the civilians of not only Armenia and Artsakh – which have been directly targeted – but also for the citizens of Azerbaijan, caught in the crossfire and victims of collateral damage. There have also been reports of Azerbaijani war crimes against Armenian POWs. As of November 10th, a contentious peace agreement brokered by Russia has taken effect that heavily favors Azerbaijan and has garnered mass opposition in Armenia, ending this most recent conflict between the two states in a way that virtually guarantees renewed fighting between them both in the future.

With all this in mind, it is understandable why Joe would strongly support both Artsakh and Armenia proper in defending themselves from Azerbaijani and Turkish aggression. However, clearly enough people were confused or upset by Joe’s words and actions that he felt like he had to make the tweet I referenced at the onset of this essay to clarify his feelings. That gets to the heart of an issue that I’ve seen a fair amount in the relatively short time since I first delved into the world of leftism, when it comes to war and international relations: a misconception of what it really means to be “anti-war.”

Being Anti-War vs. Being Pacifist

On the surface being “anti-war” seems like it should be very simple: you are against war. That’s certainly what the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition gets across when it defines the term as being “opposed to war” (yes, I’m actually pulling the high school book report move of referring to the dictionary definition of a word; deal with it, internet). The gist of that definition certainly seems to be the point I’ve seen articulated by any anti-war protest or protestor I’ve ever seen – either in person or through second-hand accounts in the media.

That being said, an important distinction needs to be made between being opposed to something and refusing to participate in it. In this case, I mean the difference between being anti-war and pacifist – a distinction that feels like it gets muddled when it comes to anti-war activism. This is the distinction I that I believe that people who were confused by Joe’s vocal support of Armenia were not making.

While being anti-war means generally being opposed to war, being pacifist is specifically defined as “refusal to bear arms on moral or religious grounds” (yes I did it again; die mad about it; word choice and definitions matter). The distinction here is important because while being pacifist rules out participation in war altogether – even if it is forced upon you – being anti-war does not. Being opposed to an activity does not necessitate a refusal to engage in an activity, especially if your well-being and the well-being of others depends on it.

I offer up an extremely simplified example: I am generally opposed to punching someone in the face (except if they’re a Nazi; in which case, you should feel free to liberate their teeth from their fashy head). That being said, if I was suddenly attacked by some rando on the street – or a good friend or family member of mine was attacked in the same situation and I was standing right next to them – you’d better believe I’d fight back with anything and everything I had at my disposal until the assailant was no longer a threat to me or whoever I was with who had been attacked.  

The logic of that example translates to war. Like Joe, I consider myself to be anti-war – despite my lifelong study of it and fascination with it as a phenomenon. But that does not mean I think that you should never fight a war under any circumstances, even if you are the one being attacked by an aggressor. I’m no pacifist – as the above example probably made crystal clear.

On the contrary, I believe that a country that is the victim of aggression has every right to defend itself – just like the victim of a random attack would in my hypothetical example. You could go even further to say that a country has an obligation to defend its people from aggression – especially in the face of mass destruction and possible genocide. Moreover, I’d argue that in the spirit of international solidarity, if an allied or innocent country is the victim of aggression, any leftist state has a duty to come to that ally’s aid and help to defend them and their people until the aggressor is no longer in a position to do them any harm. In my eyes, this is the only major reason a leftist government would to go to war: to defend yourself or an ally against attacks by an aggressor (another time we can get into the nuance of lesser included cases such as going to war to prevent genocide or to enforce or keep the peace – something definitely relevant to cases like Armenia’s as well).

This is certainly not a new idea. In the aftermath of World War I, the signatories to the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 all renounced war as an instrument of policy – though reserving the right to war in the case of self-defense. Likewise, the United Nations Charter prohibits its members from the use of force to resolve conflicts between one another, but still allows them the right to self-defense if attacked by an aggressor. Naturally, these documents have failed to stop aggression altogether, but the point here is that the idea of being anti-war but reserving the right to defend oneself against an aggressor is an established and realistic one. You can’t count on everyone else to play by the same rules. There are always going to be those with malicious intent and the ability to act upon that intent.

The “Don’t Start None, Won’t Be None” Doctrine

All this connects back to one of the main points I made in the first essay for this site and one of the main reasons why I started writing these essays in the first place. Even if your country were to turn completely leftist overnight, you simply cannot count on ever other place in the world to do the same simultaneously, nor can you count on them to respect that change.

While some might like to imagine a sudden and complete globe-spanning revolution turning the planet into a fully-automated Star Trek-style space communist paradise in short order, the reality is that will almost certainly never happen (though it’s fun to think about, I won’t lie). The reality is that if any kind of leftist administration is ever achieved in the United States, we would have to deal with an international order based around states and governments. Within that order there would be more than a handful of states that would disagree with our governing principles, as well as with some that might actively wish us and anyone aligned with us harm.

This doesn’t mean that we should be doing more of the same as we have under past administrations, intervening in ongoing conflicts and launching invasions in the pursuit of empire and in the service of capital. Doing that, but under new branding, would simply be imperialism in another guise much in the same way some authoritarian leftist governments have couched it. A democratic socialist government should not seek to start wars. However, if attacked – or if an ally who shares the same principles and values as us is attacked – we should fight back. We should definitely seek to fight to defend ourselves or our friends until the aggressor is no longer in a position to do further harm to ourselves or the ally.

Almost more important than fighting back to defend oneself, is the act of making this intent clear to anyone who may wish to do us or others any harm, exercising the simple concept of deterrence. Clearly and effectively signaling that while we will not seek out and start wars and wish to live in peace, that we will defend ourselves fully if we are attacked, in itself may help to prevent wars that might occur if a potential adversary sees us as being pacifists rather than being simply anti-war but willing to fight back in the way we have defined so far. I don’t have an eloquent name for this overall foreign policy and defense doctrine, so I’ll settle for calling it the “don’t start none, won’t be none” doctrine.

The gist of the “don’t start none, won’t be none” doctrine is that we won’t go around causing trouble, kicking in doors and launching invasions for resources or political clout. But if someone comes around intending to the do the same against us or an innocent victim, then the aggressor had best not be operating under the delusion they won’t face any kind of retaliation.

This is not to say there may not be lesser included cases where invention may be necessary. Things like intervening in an internal conflict to stop a genocide or for other humanitarian reasons (something we can cover in a future essay). But in terms of large-scale armed conflict between states, the only real acceptable reason for a non-authoritarian leftist government to go to war should to be for the purpose of defending itself and like-minded allies (in another future piece I’ll also dedicate more time to thinking about what that might look like in terms of execution and operations)

The Last Resort (but still an option)

Many leftists might see war as a horror and a nightmare that should be avoided at all costs. I understand that viewpoint and I agree with that, but only to a point.

I think a country should always try methods short of war to avoid a conflict first but avoiding war should never come at “all costs”, no matter what. This is especially true when avoiding war would entail giving up everything you and everyone you care about had worked to achieve, or potentially could entail your very life – a prospect that Armenians today are very cognizant of given their history with ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The example of appeasement leading up to World War II is often overused – or even incorrectly used in support of ill-intent towards others – but that doesn’t mean that it does not carry valid lessons that we should take to heart. Seeking solutions short of war should always be the first attempt at resolving issues between states – maybe even the second, third, and so on as well. But you should never simply give up everything you have in order to avoid a war – and if you did, at that point the war would probably still happen anyway. Likewise, you should always be prepared to fight a war if it comes to that – even if you are committed to not being the one to draw first blood in a conflict.

A reality I will return to constantly throughout these rantings and ravings is the fact that I don’t think war or states are going anywhere anytime soon, regardless of how our politics may change in the decades to come. I like to think I understand why some people say we should simply abolish borders and disband states and end war that way. But as a realist (lower case “r”, not upper case “R” like Morgenthau or Mearsheimer), at the very least I don’t believe that is feasible in our lifetimes or even the lifetimes of the next generation (at the very most, I don’t believe it is possible ever, but that’s something maybe I can expand on in another essay). War is and will continue to be a persistent element of life on Earth. As long as there are individuals with the ability to marshal people and resources to that end – which there always will be – war will continue to occur.

With war remaining a constant possibility, we will need to be prepared to fight it, even if we do not seek to start it. We will need to be prepared to fight it even if we are not the ones who attack first, because there will always be those who are weaker and more vulnerable through no fault of their own who may be preyed upon by aggressors for any number of reasons, and we’d be paying lip service to any ideas of international solidarity and other principles of leftism and basic human decency if we did not come to their aid. Consider if you will, yet another form of mutual aid, same as helping to provide food, medical care, and other necessities. If it comes to blows, we must be prepared to offer our own ability to fight as another form of aid to those who need it.

War is a terrible and destructive man-made disaster. But just as we can’t avoid natural disasters, as long as we exist as a species we will never be able to completely avoid man-made ones either, and we must be prepared for them even if we hope and pray they never happen.

#essay #War Takes #War Takes Essay #leftism #leftist #socialism #democratic socialism #international relations #IR #national security #national defense #international security #foreign policy #foreign affairs #Armenia #azerbaijan #nagorno karabakh #pacifism #anti war #peace

[massispost]

New Post has been published on https://massispost.com/2024/04/the-positive-outcomes-of-the-brussels-meeting/

The Positive Outcomes of the Brussels Meeting

By: K. KHODANIAN Last September, Azerbaijani troops invaded Artsakh, prompting over 100,000 Armenians to flee their homeland. Despite Europe and the United States being unable to prevent this tragedy, they recognized the imperative to assist Armenia and thwart Aliyev’s threats to its sovereign territories. The events in Artsakh marked a turning point, enhancing relations between Armenia and the West. In October, during the European Countries Summit in Granda, a five-way meeting was scheduled, including the President of Azerbaijan, who ultimately declined to participate in the peace talks. Aliyev’s absence underscored to Europe that Azerbaijan couldn’t be relied upon for regional…

#Commentary #Featured #News #ourCorner

[funpicsandmore]

List of countries by recognition

Most countries

South Korea, Armenia, and North Korea

Cyprus

China

Israel

Palestine

Kosovo

Cook Islands

Western Sahara

Niue

Taiwan

South Ossetia

Abkhazia

Northern Cyprus

Transinistria

Somaliland (recognized by Taiwan)

Artsakh effectively stopped existing last September

#talking