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Re: The Other Armenia
APP Panel on Foreign Aid Deconstructs Armenia’s Corruption and Where the Goodwill Buck Actually Stops
By Andy Turpin
NEW YORK (A.W.)—On May 31, as part of APP’s 3rd annual conference, panelists held a discussion entitled, “Foreign Assistance to Armenia: Toward Prosperity or Dependency?”
The panelists included University of Massachusetts professor of sociology Levon Chorbajian and human rights advocate and researcher Karen Hakobyan. Writer and solidarity worker Markar Melkonian was represented in absentia on the panel by xxxxran Kaligian, chair of the ANCA Eastern United States and an ANCA national board member.
Elizabeth Chouldjian, communications director of the ANCA, was a discussant on the panel and provided its introduction, stating, “The goal of this panel is to problemitize foreign aid to Armenia, which is often considered inherently good.”
Chorbajian spoke first, stating, “Much of my research presented here today comes from an earlier paper I presented at the first Progressive Armenians conference [then Armenians and the Left], but there’s a new chapter on neo-liberalism and globalization.”
“Globalization over the last half of the millennium refers to significantly powerful European states that were able to take over the world. Globalization eliminates any critical examination of these systems,” he explained.
Comparing modern day U.S. heads of state to the British sovereign whose economic polices instigated the American Revolution, Chorbajian stated, “Bush, Clinton, Carter—who they are structurally is George III in foreign garb. However, with the advent of neo-liberalism, you no longer have to own the colonies. You just have to be in a position to allow multi-national corporations access to the resources.”
Speaking of today’s international financial institutions, he continued, “When you look at what the WTO and the World Bank actually do, they break down protectionist legislations erected by nations over their raw materials. If they go against these organizations, they are considered to be ‘impeding free trade.’”
“Because of these constraints,” he added, “third world countries are often forced to reduce expenditures on welfare policies like education, public transit, housing, etc. There are dissenters from this program, but that’s the program.”
He noted, “There are definitely economic classes that benefit from such programs but the reality of globalization and neo-liberalism has to be hidden to present it as something contrary to what it really is, in order to rope people into going along with it.”
Chorbajian compared Jamaica and its recent history to Armenia’s present situation, saying, “When we look at what’s happened in Jamaica we can get an idea of what’s probably going to happen in Armenia in the future. … Their government’s been told by the U.S. that they cannot give low-interest loans to their farmers because it interferes with the free markets of U.S. farmers. As a result, it’s destroyed Jamaica’s dairy industry.”
“Many people in Armenia now live off charities, aid, remittances, and soup kitchens. When I visited Armenia in 1986 in the Soviet period, the standard of living was actually rather good, but I don’t want to endorse that there weren’t many problems in that system.”
Chorbajian pointed out that the public and the Armenian diaspora should not be led astray by Armenian government number padding, saying, “We do have good news from Armenia in terms of growth in the GDP and GNP, but this growth is misleading. The Armenian government has a standard for poverty that is so low that there are vast amounts of people not counted as poor in studies. USAID is a central conspirator in globalization and neo-liberal programs and even they say the poverty measuring standards are low.”
He added, “Remittances are now amounting to a billion dollars a year. For many families there is no other system or source of income, but remittances and university fees are now a significant barrier for students not attending college.”
Citing a major problem in Armenia, Chorbajian spoke to the country’s healthcare crisis, saying, “Since 1993, hospitals have been allowed to deny services if individuals cannot pay. The infant mortality rates in Armenia are currently double the rate of Russia, with the rate of death of mothers in childbirth seven times that of in western Europe.”
He stated poignantly that “another benchmark is who owns the means of production in Armenia—and it’s not Armenians, it’s Russians. Russians are now heavily invested in all sectors of the Armenian economy.”
He ended saying, “Armenia has chosen a late-19th century U.S. economic model based on robber-baron capitalism. Eighty percent of the U.S. population has not benefited from such systems in the last 30 years—nor have Armenians.”
Hakobyan spoke next on “Armenian Foreign Aids: A Means of Corruption.” He precluded his remarks by warning of the deception of language in public policy and its often stark contrast to reality, saying, “For all aid programs, ‘help’ is a main word and ‘help’ is always correlated with a better economy, better life and with ‘democracy.’”
USAID, he said, has contributed $1.2 billion annually since 1992, but “the Armenian government spends no money on civil society, which makes the people themselves dependent on foreign aid or making friends in government.”
Hakobyan has been at U.S. aid organization pitch meetings and decried, “Armenians are very good at saying we believe in democracy, but in responsiveness, many Armenians don’t actually believe in democracy at all. We’re very good at creating the right texts and words to get money. We have very bright people working at desks.”
Not laying blame, however, exclusively on the U.S., Hakobyan spoke of Britain too, stating, “DFID [British aid to Armenia] has given 1.8 million pounds annually, and 2.5 million pounds annually since ‘04-‘06. But there was no regulation on the spending processes and the Armenian government workers weren’t interested in regulation because it was their extra salaries.”
Of the root causes of corruption in Armenia, Hakobyan said, “No one is going to complain and no one is going to watch. In our mentality, we always make room for corruption. I think it exists in every country, but in Armenia we’re a talking about a homogenous country.”
“People are being physically beaten now, in Armenian courtrooms, during proceedings on foreign aid monies,” he added. “You wouldn’t believe it’s true until you see it broadcast on YouTube.”
Speaking of the IMF/World Bank’s role in the problem, Hakobyan stated, “From ‘04-’08, the World Bank and IMF instituted the Country Assistance Strategy Programme. It’s interesting how this is a key point of corruption. The IMF doesn’t care about corruption at all, as long as you’re committed to their policies.”
Like Chorbajian, Hakobyan pointed to Russian economic buyouts as a major roadblock to reform in Armenian society, stating, “All the industries in which we could makes changes are all under Russian control now.”
Speaking about potential solutions to the corruption problems, Hakobyan advocated the eminent need for aid money oversight from donor nations. “If oversight is not controlled here in the U.S. and other aid countries, problems will be doubled when they reach Armenia,” he said. An audience member noted in consensus with Hakobyan that the State Department is not accountable to Congress for its fund expenditures.
Hakobyan explained how aid organizations perpetrated their corruption under benign guises day-to-day. “Corruption is implemented in NGOs and aid organizations and when resistance occurs in the form of people not willing to enable corruption, then the group changes its ‘goals of their main idea’ in order to shut out the resister,” he explained.
He concluded by admonishing the long-term challenges of Armenian corruption, saying, “Real democracy never actually comes to Armenia. You just get people professionally good at corruption.”
Armenians and Progressive Politics
APP Panel on Foreign Aid Deconstructs Armenia’s Corruption and Where the Goodwill Buck Actually Stops
By Andy Turpin
NEW YORK (A.W.)—On May 31, as part of APP’s 3rd annual conference, panelists held a discussion entitled, “Foreign Assistance to Armenia: Toward Prosperity or Dependency?”
The panelists included University of Massachusetts professor of sociology Levon Chorbajian and human rights advocate and researcher Karen Hakobyan. Writer and solidarity worker Markar Melkonian was represented in absentia on the panel by xxxxran Kaligian, chair of the ANCA Eastern United States and an ANCA national board member.
Elizabeth Chouldjian, communications director of the ANCA, was a discussant on the panel and provided its introduction, stating, “The goal of this panel is to problemitize foreign aid to Armenia, which is often considered inherently good.”
Chorbajian spoke first, stating, “Much of my research presented here today comes from an earlier paper I presented at the first Progressive Armenians conference [then Armenians and the Left], but there’s a new chapter on neo-liberalism and globalization.”
“Globalization over the last half of the millennium refers to significantly powerful European states that were able to take over the world. Globalization eliminates any critical examination of these systems,” he explained.
Comparing modern day U.S. heads of state to the British sovereign whose economic polices instigated the American Revolution, Chorbajian stated, “Bush, Clinton, Carter—who they are structurally is George III in foreign garb. However, with the advent of neo-liberalism, you no longer have to own the colonies. You just have to be in a position to allow multi-national corporations access to the resources.”
Speaking of today’s international financial institutions, he continued, “When you look at what the WTO and the World Bank actually do, they break down protectionist legislations erected by nations over their raw materials. If they go against these organizations, they are considered to be ‘impeding free trade.’”
“Because of these constraints,” he added, “third world countries are often forced to reduce expenditures on welfare policies like education, public transit, housing, etc. There are dissenters from this program, but that’s the program.”
He noted, “There are definitely economic classes that benefit from such programs but the reality of globalization and neo-liberalism has to be hidden to present it as something contrary to what it really is, in order to rope people into going along with it.”
Chorbajian compared Jamaica and its recent history to Armenia’s present situation, saying, “When we look at what’s happened in Jamaica we can get an idea of what’s probably going to happen in Armenia in the future. … Their government’s been told by the U.S. that they cannot give low-interest loans to their farmers because it interferes with the free markets of U.S. farmers. As a result, it’s destroyed Jamaica’s dairy industry.”
“Many people in Armenia now live off charities, aid, remittances, and soup kitchens. When I visited Armenia in 1986 in the Soviet period, the standard of living was actually rather good, but I don’t want to endorse that there weren’t many problems in that system.”
Chorbajian pointed out that the public and the Armenian diaspora should not be led astray by Armenian government number padding, saying, “We do have good news from Armenia in terms of growth in the GDP and GNP, but this growth is misleading. The Armenian government has a standard for poverty that is so low that there are vast amounts of people not counted as poor in studies. USAID is a central conspirator in globalization and neo-liberal programs and even they say the poverty measuring standards are low.”
He added, “Remittances are now amounting to a billion dollars a year. For many families there is no other system or source of income, but remittances and university fees are now a significant barrier for students not attending college.”
Citing a major problem in Armenia, Chorbajian spoke to the country’s healthcare crisis, saying, “Since 1993, hospitals have been allowed to deny services if individuals cannot pay. The infant mortality rates in Armenia are currently double the rate of Russia, with the rate of death of mothers in childbirth seven times that of in western Europe.”
He stated poignantly that “another benchmark is who owns the means of production in Armenia—and it’s not Armenians, it’s Russians. Russians are now heavily invested in all sectors of the Armenian economy.”
He ended saying, “Armenia has chosen a late-19th century U.S. economic model based on robber-baron capitalism. Eighty percent of the U.S. population has not benefited from such systems in the last 30 years—nor have Armenians.”
Hakobyan spoke next on “Armenian Foreign Aids: A Means of Corruption.” He precluded his remarks by warning of the deception of language in public policy and its often stark contrast to reality, saying, “For all aid programs, ‘help’ is a main word and ‘help’ is always correlated with a better economy, better life and with ‘democracy.’”
USAID, he said, has contributed $1.2 billion annually since 1992, but “the Armenian government spends no money on civil society, which makes the people themselves dependent on foreign aid or making friends in government.”
Hakobyan has been at U.S. aid organization pitch meetings and decried, “Armenians are very good at saying we believe in democracy, but in responsiveness, many Armenians don’t actually believe in democracy at all. We’re very good at creating the right texts and words to get money. We have very bright people working at desks.”
Not laying blame, however, exclusively on the U.S., Hakobyan spoke of Britain too, stating, “DFID [British aid to Armenia] has given 1.8 million pounds annually, and 2.5 million pounds annually since ‘04-‘06. But there was no regulation on the spending processes and the Armenian government workers weren’t interested in regulation because it was their extra salaries.”
Of the root causes of corruption in Armenia, Hakobyan said, “No one is going to complain and no one is going to watch. In our mentality, we always make room for corruption. I think it exists in every country, but in Armenia we’re a talking about a homogenous country.”
“People are being physically beaten now, in Armenian courtrooms, during proceedings on foreign aid monies,” he added. “You wouldn’t believe it’s true until you see it broadcast on YouTube.”
Speaking of the IMF/World Bank’s role in the problem, Hakobyan stated, “From ‘04-’08, the World Bank and IMF instituted the Country Assistance Strategy Programme. It’s interesting how this is a key point of corruption. The IMF doesn’t care about corruption at all, as long as you’re committed to their policies.”
Like Chorbajian, Hakobyan pointed to Russian economic buyouts as a major roadblock to reform in Armenian society, stating, “All the industries in which we could makes changes are all under Russian control now.”
Speaking about potential solutions to the corruption problems, Hakobyan advocated the eminent need for aid money oversight from donor nations. “If oversight is not controlled here in the U.S. and other aid countries, problems will be doubled when they reach Armenia,” he said. An audience member noted in consensus with Hakobyan that the State Department is not accountable to Congress for its fund expenditures.
Hakobyan explained how aid organizations perpetrated their corruption under benign guises day-to-day. “Corruption is implemented in NGOs and aid organizations and when resistance occurs in the form of people not willing to enable corruption, then the group changes its ‘goals of their main idea’ in order to shut out the resister,” he explained.
He concluded by admonishing the long-term challenges of Armenian corruption, saying, “Real democracy never actually comes to Armenia. You just get people professionally good at corruption.”
Reminds me of Nazi propaganda. 
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