The dichotomies used by the Armenian authorities in domestic political discourse—“pro-Western vs. pro-Russian,” “former vs. current,” “thieves vs. the robbed,” “black vs. white”—are not a natural ideological polarization but a political technology designed to ensure societal manageability. This was stated by political scientist Stepan Danielyan.
“Place a cockroach on a white sheet of paper and draw a black circle around it—it will scurry within but won’t cross the line. In other words, we create a mental trap for the cockroach. Similarly, such political discourses form mental traps, ensuring a higher level of control over society,” Danielyan emphasized.
According to Danielyan, logical coherence in these constructs often doesn’t matter. In particular, given the current geopolitical situation, the term “pro-Western,” in his view, has effectively lost its meaning since the West is not a monolith. “There is a serious ideological struggle underway there. Therefore, when saying ‘pro-Western,’ it’s necessary to clarify who exactly is meant by ‘the West.’ Which United States are we talking about, figuratively speaking: ‘Biden’s America’ or ‘Trump’s America,’ globalists or imperialists? What do we mean when we talk about Europe—Macron’s France or Le Pen’s France? This isn’t just a domestic political confrontation; it’s a clash of worldviews, a geopolitical confrontation,” the political scientist noted.
The technology of drawing dividing lines to ensure societal manageability has long been effectively applied worldwide. Since 2018, similar mechanisms have been actively used in Armenia as well.
According to the expert, the current prime minister also employs a range of other political technology tools. “The constant repetition of the same idea, short slogan-like statements, fostering internal division through rhetoric about so-called ‘internal enemies,’ and the substitution of concepts—for example, ‘defeat in war is actually a victory for sovereignty’—are all tools actively used by the current ruling elite and will only intensify as elections approach,” he pointed out.
In addition to using internal dividing lines, the authorities, according to the political scientist, are also seeking external support. Highlighting the prime minister’s numerous foreign visits in recent months, Danielyan noted that the current government is effectively trying to “sell” state interests for the sake of its own political survival.
“I disagree with the notion that the authorities’ actions can be described as an attempt to turn Armenia into a vassal of another country. What’s happening today is far worse. Historically, vassal-suzerain relations implied mutual obligations. In our case, the Armenian authorities have effectively handed over control of part of the country’s territory to the United States for 99 years, leading to the loss of the country’s geopolitical agency, yet Armenia has received nothing in return. The ‘vassal-suzerain’ model is also a strategy, but we don’t even see that today. What we see is a mechanism of openly selling national interests,” Danielyan stated, accusing the authorities of lacking state-minded thinking.
The political scientist also added that the absence of state-minded thinking in the current ruling team has already led to war once. “The 2020 war was a defeat of diplomatic thought. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, who held the position of Foreign Minister at the time, lacked political thinking, did not understand, and failed to correctly assess the situation both in the region and globally. On the domestic political stage, the quality of debate at the time also indicated a lack of understanding of real threats. The same absence of thinking was observed in the military. The result was defeat,” he declared.